Dancing Waters
by Fireemblemsnumber1fan
Summary: FE7   Marisa, tactician, is haunted by a past that she cannot seem to figure out. Wandering, she lives for nothing and no one... until she meets a young lady one day. It is then that the wheel of fate begins to turn, altering Marisa's life forever.
1. Prologue, Part I: Black

Hello all, or maybe nobody. This fanfiction will be based out of Fire Emblem 7, Rekka No Ken, or Blazing Sword. It will be in the point of view of my Tactician, who I've decided to name Marisa.

I will be going through Lyn's Story on Hard Mode, and then Hector's Story on Normal Mode while writing this. I will be taking down all the details of the battles. I will also be including cutscenes before and after battles and adding some of my own scenes. I will not change any details of the battle to make myself seem cooler. Every screwup, everything... it all goes in here. Please don't laugh. If you think I suck, cool. I don't need you to tell me.

A note for future reference, though: I will be cutting out all arena training that I may or may not do. I will make a note of it in the story but considering it might be half of my story just in the arena... no. Just no.

Also, support conversations may be in battle, in an outside-of-battle scene, or maybe not at all.  
>Also again, I may include more than one set of support conversations for plotline purposes, etc. Don't shoot me.<br>And no, smart butts, I am probably not Fire Emblem's number ONE fan. It's just a name.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fire Emblem, but it would be really cool if I did. I only own Marisa. Thank you. *Curtain falls*

Tactician Data-  
>Name: Marisa.<br>Birth Month: September. (Affinity: Fire.)  
>Gender: Female.<p>

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><p><em><strong>Prologue: Black<strong>_

Black... the only color I could see. I felt my way blindly through the darkness, searching wildly for something to hold onto, something to make me feel safe.

Tears streamed down my face, wetting my cheeks and neck. I would have wiped my face if it would have made a difference, but I knew there would be no end to the crying anytime soon. Downstairs, I could hear faint, muffled screaming. However, little sound (and no light) was peeking through the old wooden floorboards.

Suddenly, I ran into something. I gasped in surprise as I fell back onto the floor, my behind meeting the splintered floor. I felt in front of me to see what it was I had run into, feeling small feet, and handles... a dresser. This told me that I was in someone's bedroom. My mind was racing, as I was trying to envision all of the rooms in my home so I could know where to go.

I stood again and felt off to the left for a bed. I sighed with relief upon feeling the soft silk of the comforter only a few feet away. However, this feeling of relief did not last long; soon after, I heard a loud crash behind me. They were upstairs now. I had to hurry, find a way out!

I knew I was in the room that had previously belonged to my parents, so I was more confident about moving around in the dark. I rushed to my right, holding my hands out in front of me. Soon enough, I hit a wall, as I had figured. I felt around at torso-level on the wall.

A thin and soft material covered something behind it, something thick and hard. I pushed the drapes away, and light came instantaneously pouring in from the half-moon outside. I yanked upward with all of my might on the window, and it barely creaked. I drew back in surprise, wondering why the window in Mom and Dad's room was so hard to open.

The banging and shouting from the hallway suddenly got louder. I turned back to the window in a rush, pulling upward on the window again. It creaked, but only budged a centimeter, if that. I tried a new approach; I crouched down a bit, pushing upward from under it. I let out a cry as my arms shook, using all of my strength to pry open that blasted wooden rectangle.

Finally, it was jerked out of place, and it flew open. I laughed lightly, almost in disbelief that I was finally presented with a way out.

"Here! There's one in here!" I heard a voice from behind me, this one loud and clear to my ears. I whipped around to see a man standing in the doorway, the door now open, pointing at me. I faced forward once more, hesitating only seconds. I stared out at the short rooftop before me, and the grassy lawn beyond. I did not have time to question whether or not I would survive the fall; anything would be better than certain doom at the hands of the mystery men ravaging my house.

I leapt out the window and began gingerly creeping my way to the edge of the roof. However, before I had time to catch my breath, I was kicked in the small of my back. I was off of my feet and rolling before I even knew what was happening.

The rough tiles of my roof scratched up my arms and legs as I rolled, even breaking the skin in some places. This sharp pain was suddenly halted when I felt nothing beneath me at all. Unsure of what else to do, I reach wildly for something to hold onto, anything...

I was able to catch the edge of the rooftop. My hand was cut open by the metal lining, and I screeched in pain. I could feel a slight warmth surrounding my hand, but I would not realize until later that this was blood.

Now that I had time, I was able to look around and see where I was, and my brain was able to process what was going on. Someone had kicked me down and I had rolled to the edge of the roof. I was hanging down above the expansive yard. I looked down below me, and I knew that it would be a miracle if I survived the fall. Ah, what an idiot I was for trying to flee out the window... I should have hidden under the bed, or something.

I looked back up, seeing the night sky stretching out before me. This sight was soon blocked by a figure... a person. This was not, however, any of the men I had seen in my house. This person was small... young. He was only a teenager...

He stared down at me with hard brown eyes. They, unlike the golden eyes of the men I had seen before, were barely visible in the night's dark cloak. He had short reddish-brown hair and sharp facial features. Most of the rest of his body was covered in a dark cloak. In his hands rested large twin daggers, tools made for killing...

"Eh heh heh..." came a thin, raspy voice from behind him. I peeked up over the edge of the roof, and I was able to make out an outline in the window I had just come from. I could not see anything except an outline- the person standing at the window, looking on at the scene, was simply too far away for my eyes.

"Dearest child. You are an angel."

I didn't understand what he meant. I was unsure of whether the talking outline was addressing me or the boy standing over me, but I didn't care much at the time. I struggled to move my right arm, the one that was dangling, to get to the rooftop; it was so much harder a task than it had seemed...

I grunted, letting my right arm fall back to my side in defeat. I was done...

"Now finish her."

"Please," I squeaked in a small, almost inaudible voice. "Please don't kill me..."

The shadow at the window cackled. Apparently my plea, drowned by sobbing, was amusing to him. "Idiot child. There is no hope for you! ...Now, finish her!"

It's funny, the things one notices in their final moments. I seemed to forget about the men nearby. I stared longingly up at the sky. The stars twinkled beautifully above me, the moon's pale glow shining on all below it. The sky was such a pretty shade of blue... it was my favorite color of all, the blue of the sky at night.

Nighttime made everything so stunning and surreal. My murderer did, in fact, look like an angel with the moon's kiss and the night's soft embrace on him. Radiant...

He raised one of his daggers to end my life at only six years. I had only been blessed with six years on this planet, and everything was about to end. No, I thought. I couldn't let him take it from me. I had to go my own way. With nothing more than a brief exhale, I released the roof's edge and fell down, down to the ground.

Time seemed to slow terribly, if it did not stop completely. I felt like I was flying. It was so freeing, free-falling... More than that, it was frightening. My stomach did backflips, and I felt the overwhelming need to scream.

I closed my eyes, preparing for impact.

"_...Are you awake?"_

All of the sudden, darkness was eaten away by the light, and my eyes cracked open.

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><p>Reviews are appreciated. Criticism welcome, please no flames. Thank you.<p> 


	2. Prologue, Pt II: A Girl from the Plains

Story: Lyn, Hard Mode.

Tactician Data-  
>Name: Marisa.<br>Birth Month: September. (Affinity: Fire.)  
>Gender: Female.<p>

Pairings currently planned? Too many. 14, to be exact.

Now, to reviews, my lovely reviewers...

_SpeedDemon315:_ Thank you for being my first review. I'm glad you see improvement; I know I still have a long way to go but I'd like to think I've gotten better. I'm so glad you like it and hope you continue to like it. P.S., I'm aware, PMing apparently disabled itself? I believe I've fixed it. I turned it back on, at least.

_ExposedWiresExposedVeins:_ Thank you for the tips. I'm just returning to the site and appreciate any advice you can give me. I also appreciate corrections and criticism! *I'm not planning on writing anything at 1 am again!* Thank you for reviewing, you're a dear. I know it's pretty short, I imagine the first couple chapters will be. Please bear with me, and here's to hoping I can please my readers. I don't expect it to be perfect by any stretch, but I hope that everyone enjoys.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fire Emblem, its dialogue, etc, but it would be really cool if I did. I only own Marisa.

Prologue-  
>Objective: Seize gate.<br>Enemies: 2.  
>Unitscharacters: Marisa, Lyn.

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><p><em><strong>Prologue (Part II): A Girl from the Plains<strong>_

"...Are you awake?"

All of the sudden, darkness was eaten away by the light, and my eyes cracked open. I didn't dare to move yet; I had no idea where I was or who was addressing me. My eyes took a few moments to adjust to the light, but I could see before long.

A young girl was standing over me, smiling pleasantly, as if she'd just found buried treasure. I wondered why she looked so happy, and why she looked so happy while looking at _me_. What was I, but a skinny sixteen-year-old stranger?

This girl was of average height, about five and a quarter feet tall, I would guess. Her long emerald green hair was tied back, and hung low to her waist. She wore clothes that were strange to me: it was almost like a dress, but covered less. The sleeves came nearly to her elbows, with a thin rope tied around her waist, above her hips. Below that, it split at the sides, showing the sides of her legs. It was a light blue with gold trim, and probably the strangest thing I'd ever seen.

Where was I, for people to be dressing like this? What hell had I dropped into this time?

"I found you unconscious on the plains," she explained. So she had saved me... so she was not an enemy. I felt it safe to sit up. Thin white sheets fell from over me to my lap.

"I am Lyn, of the Lorca tribe. You're safe now," she continued. Ah, that explained it. She came from the Lorca tribe; I knew of three reigning tribes of people that resided in Sacae, the country of wide open plains. Lorca must have been one of them, and she was clearly a member. So I was surrounded by primitive barbarians... fantastic.

I took this opportunity to observe my surroundings. I was on a small cot, the only one in the hut-like structure. Boxes were piled near the edges of the small home, wooden boxes with strange designs painted on the sides. There were also piles of clothes and other cloth-made items that I couldn't exactly observe with detail at that time. The only exit was a door made of red cloth of some kind, tied to the roof and hanging down to the floor.

"Who are you?" she asked, returning my attention to her. "Can you remember your name?"

"...I'm called Marisa," I answered in a small voice. I figured it wouldn't hurt to tell her my name. She had saved my life, after all... not that I cared much whether I lived or died, of course.

"Your name is Marisa?" she questioned, with a hint of curiosity in her voice. She looked intrigued and confused at the same time. "What an odd-sounding name..."

I shot her a strange look. I'd never received that reaction before. But of course, what more could be expected from some tribeswoman?

"But," she added quickly when she saw my expression, "Pay me no mind. It is a good name." _Nice cover,_ I thought. At least she was trying to be polite. "...I see by your attire that you are a traveler." I sighed mentally; I wasn't in any mood to be questioned about who I was or where I came from. However, I kept my face straight as she continued speaking. "What brings you to the Sacae Plains? Would you share your story with me?"

"...I can't remember much," I lied. I figured it would be better if she didn't know anything. There was no use concerning her in things that were none of her business, and it wasn't as if I would be with her for much longer. I would simply get food from her, if I could, and then be on my way... "I was just wandering..."

But before I could try to say anything else, there were screams from outside, albeit faint and far-away. The screams were followed by a muffled crashing noise. We both shot each other wary looks. That was never a good sign, though it was just my luck, of course.

"Hm? What was that noise?" she asked, mainly to herself, because how should I know? She glanced over her shoulder briefly, as if she could see through the cloth-door that blocked the view to outside. She looked back to me soon after. "I'll go see what's happening. Marisa, wait here for me."

Without waiting for my response, she left me. "Gladly," I muttered under my breath. I pushed the blankets off of my lap and turned so that my legs dangled off the side of the cot. I dragged my hands up my cheeks to my temples, rubbing my eyes. Upon feeling it, I could tell that my abnormally short brown hair was in a sorry state, messy and doing whatever it pleased. I looked enough like a boy because of its length, I was sure the new spikes weren't helping.

How did I end up in Sacae, of all places? Though I did remember a lot about myself, unlike what I had told Lyn, I did not remember much of the past few days. Last I could remember clearly, I was in Lycia... Tania, to be exact. Had I really passed through the mountains, north? I was aware that I had not eaten in several days, which was probably the cause of my current memory issues. My stomach growled loudly to confirm this fact.

I stood, but before I could go anywhere or do anything, Lyn returned to inside the hut. She looked not quite scared, but... concerned.

"Oh no!" she shouted, "Bandits! They must have come down from the Bern mountains! They must be planning on raiding the local villages." That sounded like a fair assumption... bandits, raiding. Genius. "I... I have to stop them!"

Your funeral, lady. "If that's all of them, I think I can handle them on my own. You'll be safe in here, Marisa," she told me bravely. But I knew she'd probably die without my help. Sighing, I knew offering to help would be the right thing to do. I would get anxious if I was made to sit still, anyway.

"I can help you," I replied, speaking louder than I had in years.

"What? You want to help? Well, can you use a weapon?" she questioned quickly. She was clearly excited, feeling some strange need to stop the bandits outside. At the time, I couldn't dream of understanding her need to do good.

"...No. I was never any good with weapons. But I'm sort of a tactician... I've been studying war in my travels," I answered.

"Ah, I see... So you're a strategist by trade? An odd profession, but..." She seemed to ponder this for a short moment, probably wondering if I knew what I was talking about. But she agreed, "Very well. We'll go together!"

She rushed to one of the piles of things near the edge of the hut. She picked up a sword in a thin sheath, and proceeded to tie the sheath around her waist. A thin piece of metal and a skinny little lady would stand between me and those thugs... Good thing I didn't value my life much. Maybe they would even sell me to some rich brat instead of killing me (as I was female) if we ended up getting beaten.

Lyn also picked up a small bag, something called a satchel, and tied it around her waist. She put two small vials in it, each filled with a brown liquid. Vulneraries. Good, that would help.

She rushed outside immediately after that, and I followed with due haste. She rushed to some nearby trees, but I was busy surveying the plain that stretched out in front of me. There were only two bandits... I'd seen worse odds. Maybe we would make it.

A light breeze flowed by, gently stroking my hair. I looked up; it was a beautiful day. It was a mostly blue sky with only a few clouds. The sun shone brightly down to the earth, but the temperature was comfortable. I would have stayed staring at the sky for a few moments longer if Lyn would not have said something.

"Over here!" Lyn called from the trees, motioning for me to come. I moved as quickly as I could, feeling dizzy with just walking but trying not to fall over. My vision was black for a moment, but it cleared soon and I could see her face again. "If you want to help, Marisa, I could use your advice. I'll protect you, so stay close to me."

Stay close to you... stay close to the danger... awesome. I could see it in her eyes, though: the desire to protect me. She really cared about what happened to me, a stranger... I would have to do my best to not get her killed. As long as I didn't move too much, the hunger wouldn't have a chance to hit me, and perhaps I'd be able to see clearly.

"Okay, let's move," I ordered. She moved cautiously across the plain, with me trailing nervously behind her. I was unsteady on my feet, but was mentally cursing at myself to shut up and suck it up. I had bigger problems at the moment.

The bandit soon took notice of Lyn, and began to rush her without even saying anything, without a second thought. I "hmph"ed to myself, figuring that they were a dumb lot. Either that, or just ruthless...

"Let's close in and attack!" she shouted, unsheathing her small iron sword. I repressed to urge to make a smart comment, something like, "I thought I was the tactician?" and stayed quiet. However, she seemed to look to me for confirmation.

"Go, hurry. Attack him," I commanded. I took a few steps back, trying to distance myself from the fighting. She closed the small space between her and the bandit, swinging at him. Her hit landed effortlessly. He brought his axe down at her, and I almost didn't look, for fear that she would be hit and I would have to watch. However, she dodged to the side without much trouble, and then came back to counterattack, slashing at him again.

He retreated a few steps, moving around her. I directed my attention to the other bandit for just a second; he was standing still. Nothing to worry about, but I had wanted to make sure he wasn't about to sneak up on us. I directed my attention back to Lyn and her foe.

She turned so that she would constantly be facing him, but he was a few steps ahead of her. He sliced at her stomach, landing a hit. I winced, her skin cracking open and blood pouring out like a waterfall. She grunted in pain, wincing visibly. She didn't back down, simply clutching her stomach with her free arm. She took advantage of the downtime between his hitting her and backing up, stabbing her sword into his chest.

She pulled back, jerking the sword from his body. He slumped to the ground lifelessly, becoming nothing more than a motionless pile of bloody flesh. The smell of blood made me a little bit sick, but I tried to ignore it, moving to Lyn's side.

"Use a vulnerary. But don't drink it all, just a little bit," I said. After sheathing her sword, she did as I commanded, opening her satchel and pulling out one of the vials. She ripped off the wooden lid vigorously, and blood resumed the escape from her body, since she was no longer trapping it in with her arm. She gulped down about a third of the vulnerary, her wound beginning to heal.

It never ceased to amaze me, the effect that healing items and staves had on the body. I watched breathlessly as her skin patched itself together, and before I knew it she was good as new again. I let myself smile just a bit, awed into a state of paralyzation. But I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality.

"Alright, this one looks tougher," I muttered, judging by his protruding muscles and scary grimace. "I want you to move up to him but let him strike first. You'll be able to dodge the attack, since you'll be expecting it, and counterattack. Got it?"

"Have you done this before?" she asked in surprise. I supposed she was startled by how sure of myself I was, by my lack of hesitation.

"Only a few times. ...Go," I ordered.

She ran up to the bandit, who was standing just outside a hut- this one looked strikingly similar to Lyn's, though was much bigger. He seemed to be guarding the entrance. She rushed toward him, stopping only a few feet from him. She stood tall and proud, drawing her sword and readying herself.

"Who do you think you are? You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast?" the bandit roared. Lyn said nothing, staring at him with determined eyes and a straight face. When Lyn did not make the first move, he lunged at her, swinging his huge axe wildly.

I winced when he hit her, cutting deep into her side.

"Vulnerary!" I cried, though I was sure she'd figure she should do that herself. She counterattacked like we had talked about, swinging twice and slashing his skin open. She drew back and pulled out the vulnerary again, gulping down another part of it. As her skin was mending itself, "Batta the Beast" swung again.

Much to my surprise, he cut into her again. "Agh, again?" I cried in frustration. It was amazing to me- bandits were known for being slow and clumsy. I wondered if Lyn was unskilled or simply unlucky... but I did know that we couldn't afford such blunders. Moving in, Lyn had the opportunity to strike twice another time before Batta could back away.

"Finish him!" I shouted, pointing at the bandit. "And don't you dare miss!" If she missed, she would be dead, and I would follow.

Lyn let out a war cry, rushing toward Batta. She jumped off to the side at the last moment, throwing him off and making him unable to strike her before she reached him. She sliced up his chest, his blood spewing out like a beautiful fountain. Beautifully sickening...

She drew back a few feet, waiting to see what he did.

"What?" he asked in disbelief, staring down at the blood covering his body. He then looked back up to Lyn, "How... How did you-" However, he was cut off when his life ceased. He fell to the ground, staring unblinking at the partially cloudy sky.

Lyn panted hard, still bleeding from the wound in her side. She stood up, sheathing her sword. I figured she would go ahead and drink the last part of her vulnerary, but she didn't. Instead, she looked over at me with a surprisingly serene smile.

"Good work, Marisa!" she congratulated me excitedly. I could see the happiness twinkling in her deep forest green eyes... She was happy she helped. Happy I helped. I was just happy we lived. "Let's go home."***1**

With a small smile, I nodded to her gratefully. I was so glad to be done with that dirty business. I wondered if we should do something with the bodies, but I figured when she didn't make any move to do anything with them that we should just leave them. We were, of course, in the middle of the plains... In the other words, in the middle of nowhere. More than likely, no one would see them but we two.

I was not so dizzy on the walk back to Lyn's hut. I figured that the adrenaline rush was helping me to forget about how hungry and sick I was. We were inside very soon, and she put her sword and satchel away. She pulled out another vulnerary, one she had not had previously, and gulped it down. Her wound was healed instantaneously, and she looked as if she was feeling much better.

"That was good... Have you been studying a long time?" she asked me suddenly as she began to shuffle through her things. I sat myself down on her cot, trying to catch my breath.

"I... sort of. ...I think," I caught myself. "Like I said, I don't remember very much."

"Mm," she muttered, and I was unsure of how much attention she was actually paying to me. I cleared my throat briefly.

"...I was... surprised," I admitted in my usual weak voice. "I didn't think we were actually going to win."

She turned toward me with a small smile. "I'm not sure if that was intended to be a compliment or an insult."

"I-I... a compliment, of course..." I replied, blushing slightly and looking away. I hadn't meant to be outwardly rude to her, so I was embarrassed. I did owe her something, after all.

"I was just kidding. Here," she offered, holding out a square wooden plate. On it was a pile of smoked meat and a few vegetables. I was unsure of what kind of meat it was or what sort of vegetables they were, but I didn't really care. It was food.

"...Really? For me?" I asked, looking up at her in surprise. She laughed lightly.

"Yes, of course. You helped me out today, it's the least I can do," she explained, continuing to hold the plate toward me. I took it hesitantly, looking up at her again as if to make sure it was alright. I suppose that I was simply so grateful to have food, I was in disbelief. She only smiled and sat next to me.

I practically inhaled my food, and it was gone in minutes. She ate more slowly, carefully, observing the way I ate and moved. She seemed surprised by how hungry I was, but she never commented about it or asked me how long it had been since I had eaten. She even let me have the last of her food when she was finished.

"...That was delicious... thank you," I murmured in a small voice, looking down and messing with one sleeve of my cloak.

"No problem," she replied, jumping to her feet. She walked back to her things to shuffle through them, while I laid down absentmindedly, staring at the roof. My mind was blank, as I was sort of lost in my own world. "...Say, Marisa."

"Yes?" I called back, though I doubt she heard me, it was so quiet. She hesitated a moment before continuing with what she would say.

"You seem really quiet. You were fine on the battlefield, but otherwise, you seem... shy. ...Is everything okay?" she asked. I said nothing, staring at my hair, which rested on the pillow below my head. "...You can trust me, you know."

Still, I said nothing. I didn't feel like talking, especially not to her. She was so nice to me... nicer than anyone had been to me before. I felt bad taking advantage of her. But it wasn't as if I had any reason to stay... it wasn't like we were friends...

"...Do you mind if I go to sleep? I'm really tired," I finally muttered.

"Sure. You can sleep on the cot again," she offered, not looking back at me.

"...Are you sure? It's your bed..."

"Yes. I can sleep on the floor. I'd prefer it, anyway... you're my guest! ...Goodnight, Marisa," she called back. So kind...

"...Goodnight..." I replied softly, turning onto my side. I pulled the covers over me, staring down at the edge of the cot. I was an empty body... I had no soul, nothing. What did I do to deserve any of this? Getting anything had never been this easy. Was this some kind of trick, or did she mean what she said? That I could trust her?

I was very tired, so I couldn't concentrate on my thoughts for very long. Soon enough, my eyes snapped shut and I fell into a light and troubled sleep.

"Good morning, Marisa!" was the next thing I heard. I groaned slightly, rolling over. I had no desire to wake up at that time. "Are you awake yet?" Lyn called in a soft voice.

_Well, I am now,_ I thought, utterly annoyed. I forced my eyes open, peering up through the blinding sunlight. Lyn was standing over me with her usual friendly smile. I made a mental note to try not to be too unpleasant when I finally brought myself to say something, since she was only trying to be friendly.

I made myself sit up, yawning as I did. I stretched for a long while.

"That fight yesterday must have taken a lot out of you," she stated. It was morning again... I had been asleep for a long time, hadn't I? So yes, it must have taken a lot out of me... I felt bad for sleeping so long, like I had wasted time... as if I had anywhere to go or anything to do.

When I didn't reply, she continued. "Say, Marisa... I want to talk to you about something." I turned toward her, silently telling her that I was giving her my undivided attention. She sat down hesitantly at the edge of the cot. She sat with her legs criss-cross, pulling her feet toward her with one hand. She seemed hesitant to speak to me.

"You have some experience in the ways of war, I can see," she began. She waited for a reaction, but I said nothing and kept a straight face. She was beginning to expect this, and did not wait as long before continuing to speak. "Would you allow me to travel with you?"

I thought about this for awhile before deciding on my answer. "I... I'm fine with it, as long as your parents don't mind." It might be nice to have some company, and maybe she would have somewhere nice to go or something worthwhile to do. She drew back at my response.

"What? You... want me to get permission from my parents?" Well, that was what I said, wasn't it? Deciding it would be better not to speak, I nodded in the affirmative.

She was silent for a moment before saying anything. "My mother and my father... died six months ago." I tried not to show any reaction, but I was sure I looked somewhat shocked. I hadn't expected something like that... she always seemed so cheery. And they had only died six months ago... How did she do it?

"My people- the Lorca- they don't... I'm the last of my tribe." Still, I said nothing, staring sadly at her. Her eyes began to turn red. "Bandits attacked, and... they killed so many people. The tribe was scattered." She exhaled slowly, trying her hardest not to cry in front of me. "My father was our chieftain, and I wanted to protect our people. But I'm so young, and our people were old-fashioned," she said, beginning to choke on her words. Two tears escaped from her eyes, but that was all. "They wouldn't follow a woman. No one would follow me."

We were both silent- Lyn remembering that time, me absorbing the story. She sniffled, rubbing her nose with her hand, as if that would help anything.

"I'm sorry. I've been alone for so long..." I wanted to tell her that I knew how she felt... but still, I felt as if my past were none of her business, despite the fact that she was sharing hers with me. She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes.

"No. No more." She closed her eyes, every muscle in her face quivering. "I will shed no more tears." I waited several long moments for her to be okay again, to show me the smile I'd almost grown used to. Her eyes remained firmly closed for a long time, until she took another deep breath.

She opened her eyes very suddenly, looking at me again. "Thank you. I'm better now." I shot her a small smile; I admired her strength. She smiled back at me in return. She continued speaking with newfound determination, "Marisa, I want- I must become stronger, so that I may avenge my father's death!" she declared.

"Yesterday's battle taught me something. I won't become stronger by sitting here alone." Those words were so meaningful to me, meaningful in ways she couldn't understand. I wouldn't realize it until much, much later, but those were good words to live by. "Marisa, tell me you'll train with me, that you'll let me travel with you!"

We actually had something in common: we were orphans. After all of that, after everything she'd done, there was no way to turn her down. She seemed mature enough to make her own decisions... I trusted that she would not steer us in the wrong direction. I knew she only wanted what was best for both of us. I might not have been able to avenge my parents, but I couldn't deny her that chance.

"Yes. I'll let you come," I responded, trying to sound firm, though my voice still wavered. My sickness had not yet passed, and my voice was still weak. However, she didn't care about any of that; she smiled hugely, leaning toward me ever so slightly.

"You will? That's wonderful! Thank you! Oh, thank you! We'll be better off working together, I know it." I only prayed that she was right. "You'll be my master strategist, and I'll be your peerless warrior! We can do it! Right?"

I only smiled. "That's right."

* * *

><p>Don't worry; Marisa is not a jerk the whole story. You'll eventually understand why she is now.<p>

Also, I'm not sure if future battles (ex. ones that are super long with 50+ enemies) will be written like this one. I'll try to get down most of the details, but I guess we'll see how it goes.

Of course, I would just love it if you would review... Thank you for reading!

*1= I skipped Lyn "seizing the gate" for plot purposes.

~Written while eating pizza


	3. Chapter One: Footsteps of Fate

Story: Lyn, Hard Mode.

Tactician Data-  
>Name: Marisa.<br>Birth Month: September. (Affinity: Fire.)  
>Gender: Female.<p>

Responding to my lovely reviewers...

_Gunlord500:_ Thank you so much for reviewing! I don't get many reviews, so I don't really care if they're long or not, I'm simply glad that someone took the time. ^^ I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far. If you have any concerns, corrections, anything, please feel free to let me know in your review or just PM me. I'm trying to make this the best that I can. Thank you again!

_ExposedWiresExposedVeins:_ Thank you for reviewing again; your input is valued and extremely helpful to me. The reason I dubbed vulneraries to be drinkable is because I stared at little icon for awhile (in an inventory screen) and thought it looked a lot like a vial. And same with elixirs. Aside from that, writing them as a drink would be faster for characters to use in the middle of battle and more realistic for a real-time type battle.  
>I have tried thus far not to add too much of Marisa's dialogue to the game's script, since other characters don't seem to pause often to wait for her input. Instead, I try to add her own comments in her thoughts and create speaking parts for her in other scenes. Should I try adding more of her dialogue in the game script or do you think it is fine how it is? I plan on adding more and more "Marisa" scenes in the future, and I feel like there will be more opportunities once the storyline progresses, especially once I get into Hector's story.<br>Thank you for corrections and concerns. I have taken them into consideration and made changes. I also thank you for your praise and hope that you continue to enjoy.  
>P.S., One thing I'm really trying to be careful about: OOCness. I'm trying to keep the characters in-character while trying to be original and I would appreciate it if you could let me know how I'm doing. Thank you! (And my apologies for the terribly long response.)<p>

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fire Emblem, its dialogue, etc, but it would be really cool if I did. I only own Marisa.

Chapter One-  
>Objective: Defeat enemy.<br>Enemies: 5.  
>Unitscharacters: Marisa, Lyn, Kent, Sain.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter One: Footsteps of Fate<strong>_

A tactician and a lone swordswoman... we were quite a sight. Total opposites in every way except concerning our pasts... I prayed my nerves would endure the journey. But I did owe Lyn, and it would be safer for me to wander around with a bodyguard than on my own.

Lyn wanted to become stronger. I wanted to find a purpose. In future battles, I imagined both of our goals would be fulfilled. However, I wasn't exactly pleased about the idea of running around looking for trouble. Despite this, I knew that I had no room to complain- I had agreed to this. Lyn was leading the two of us now... I would go where she did.

She suggested that we head out to Bulgar. I wasn't exactly sure of where that was, but she claimed that she had made trips there many times before. Bulgar was known to be the center of trade in Sacae, and probably the best place in the country to buy anything that we might want. Neither of us had much money, but the hope was that we would be able to earn some "doing good"... or whatever.

On the trip to the city, which lasted a few days, I noticed something: pretty much all of Sacae looked exactly the same. The green grass of the rolling plains seemed neverending... the blue sky seemed to run on forever... It was boring, but beautiful at the same time. I was excited when I spotted an occasional tree or rock. Lyn, however, seemed quite used to it. I imagined it would be different for her, who had only seen this type of landscape before, versus someone like me, who had traveled all over the continent.

My favorite part about the Sacaean landscape was the night sky. I had always loved nighttime, and the stars seemed to shine their brightest out there. The grass seemed to glow in the moon's pale light, giving life to the flowing blades of green. The way it moved reminded me of water... water dancing, ripples flowing... gracefully...

I had trouble figuring out which reality was true, this world or my own, when I got lost deep in my thoughts. But I always came back...

I didn't talk much, but Lyn talked enough for both of us. She told me a lot of random facts about Sacae that, although interesting, were completely pointless and I would never need to know in my life. But if it kept her entertained, that made one of us, and that was good.

It wasn't that I didn't like Lyn. I did. It was just that she was much too cheery for someone like me.

We were there before I knew it, which surprised me. I had expected the journey to seem quite long, but listening to Lyn talk had apparently entertained me more than I had thought while it was happening. Regardless, we were standing before the large stone wall that surrounded the city, a rusty iron gate leading the way inside.

"Let's go!" she declared excitedly, and I followed silently behind her. I was surprised by the amount of people that were here; for a place that I had never deemed worthy to visit before, I found that there were a _lot_ of people in Sacae. It was just like any other country... I shook my head, though, trying to focus.

"I think we should split up for a little bit. I'll go get some clothes and you can get the food. Is that okay?" she asked politely.

"Sure... any requests?" I questioned. I myself was a bit of a picky eater, so I tried to give her the courtesy of asking her what she wanted, as I would want her to do in my position.

"I'll eat anything," she answered. "You can choose. How about we meet back here when we're done?" she questioned. Very suddenly, she began to look around. Then she pointed, "By that pillar there."

"That's fine," I muttered, nodding once. She had been carrying all of our money, so she got some out and pressed it into my hand. It was more than enough, and I almost questioned to myself if Lyn would have enough. However, I said nothing.

Smiling, she turned around and we parted ways.

I glanced around uneasily; she knew exactly where to go, but I was a stranger in this huge city. I would _not_ be asking anyone for directions... I disliked talking as it was, I would not be addressing anyone I didn't know. I would just wander around until I found something that looked good. That was how I'd been living, and it had worked out all right so far.

Before too long, I was able to follow the smell of cooking meat to a shop. I bought a lot of meat, all kinds of meat- it was what I figured we would need the most to keep up going, and I wasn't sure how long it would be before we could get food again.

The vegetable stall was right next to the meat shop. I was unfamiliar with many of the vegetables I saw, so I was unsure of which ones would last very long and which ones would be bad in only days. It was at that time that I began to wish I had Lyn by my side to help me...

I picked out a few random ones, hoping they would do. After that, I wandered around with my arms full of food, searching for a bread shop. I felt lost and helpless carrying so much by myself around such a large city...

Ha. Bread store, I had finally found it. I bought two large, delicious-looking loaves and tucked them under my arm. I struggled to pay the vendor, but eventually handed the money to him using my two free fingers.

I waddled back to where I was supposed to be meeting Lyn, struggling to see over the mountain of food I carried. I was a prime target for any thief, and I could only hope I wouldn't be robbed before I met up with Lyn...

"Excuse me," someone said. I turned toward the owner of the voice, startled that someone was addressing me. There stood a young redheaded man, tall in his striking red armor. I could tell by the emblem on his sword sheath that he was a knight of some country, but I wasn't sure which. He was walking, holding onto the reigns of his horse.

"Might I offer you some assistance, milady?" he asked politely. I let myself smile just slightly, surprised by his kindness. Aside from the kindness clearly showing in his bold brown eyes, I also knew that he was a knight, so I trusted that he wouldn't run off with my things.

I nodded twice. "Thank you," I said in a small voice. He took some of my things from my arms and carried them in one arm. It amazed me how much he could carry, but I reminded myself that he was a very tall knight and I was but a tiny, young woman. It made sense that he could carry more than I could...

Without another word to him, I began leading him along. He seemed to sense that he should follow me, and didn't pester me... at least, not for a moment.

"You are... really carrying a lot. Are you planning a trip of some kind, milady?" he questioned politely, probably just trying to make conversation. I looked at him, planning to tell him to mind his own business, but soon after lost my nerve. I looked down and nodded. "You don't plan on traveling alone, do you?"

He sounded concerned for my well-being... a sixteen-year-old stick of a woman traveling alone wasn't the safest thing ever, I could give him that. Not that it hadn't worked out in the past. I couldn't make myself look up to meet his eyes, so I only shook my head, continuing to stare at the ground as I walked.

I looked up, smiling a bit as I saw Lyn standing, waiting for me. However, the smile dropped quickly from my face when I saw someone ride up to her on horseback. He dismounted quickly and strode up to her confidently.

I couldn't help but glare at him. Who was he to walk up so freely to her, a lady he didn't know? Or so I had to assume. He said something to her, holding his hands out toward her as he did. She turned to look at him, shooting him a confused look. He continued to speak, and she looked at him as if he had gone mad.

"E-excuse me," I murmured as I yanked my things out of the kind knight's arms very suddenly, "But I must go. Thank you!" I shouted, though it was the volume that normal people spoke at. Without another word, I took off toward Lyn and this mystery man.***1**

"Ha! I thought you'd never ask!" he shouted poetically to Lyn as I rushed up to her. "I am from Lycia. I hail from the Caelin canton, home to men of passion and fire!"

Lyn looked at me as I reached her side, telling me without saying anything that she had noticed my presence. The man's smile turned into a grin when he saw me, and he took one small step toward us. Lyn stepped in front of me, her hands on her hips.

"Shouldn't that be 'home to callow oafs with loose tongues'?" asked Lyn icily. I hardly suppressed a grin- she was quick.

"Ooooh... you're even lovelier when you're cruel," he declared, drawing back a step as if drawing back from a snake. I glared daggers at him for not leaving at that, after she had clearly expressed her distaste. Lyn only made a disgusted noise.

"Let's go, Marisa," she said as she looked back at me. But then she returned her gaze to this rude man, "I have nothing more to say." She took my hand, though it was buried beneath a pile of food, and began to lead me away.

"Wait!" shouted the man as we passed him, "Please..."

"Sain! Hold your tongue!" someone else shouted from behind us. I glanced back, and much to my surprise, I saw the knight who had helped me earlier striding quickly to the man who had been bothering Lyn.

As I studied the two, I noticed that their armor was identical aside from the color; the nice one's armor was red and the rude one's was green. How could I have been so unobservant? I usually noticed details like those...

"It's him," I mumbled, quieter than usual. Lyn glanced to me, and then back to the knights.

"You know him?" she questioned in surprise.

"Yes... the redheaded one, he helped me carry some of my things," I informed her as the redheaded knights spoke to Sain, and rather harshly from the looks of it.

Lyn sighed in annoyance. I turned to see what was making her so distressed, and it appeared that the horses of the two knights were blocking most of the road that led to Bulgar's exit. Lyn released my hand and strode back to the two men. Unsure of what to do, I followed behind her silently.

"Excuse me!" she called impatiently, attracting the attention of both men. "You're blocking the road," she announced, pointing back to their steeds with her thumb. "If you would be so kind as to move your horses..."

"Of course. My apologies..." said the redheaded knight politely, rushing to the horses. He grabbed both sets of reigns and led the horses out of the way of the road. He stood tall, like a knight would in his rank of knights. Sain walked awkwardly to his side, standing next to him, though not quite as stiffly.

"Thank you," said Lyn, her annoyed tone leaving and a polite one taking its place. "You, at least, seem honorable."

The redhead suddenly looked startled, or surprised, or something in that neighborhood. "Hm?" he mumbled, peering at Lyn. "Pardon me, but... I feel we've met before." Lyn looked surprised. She clearly did not know either of the men before this meeting, so...

"I beg your pardon?" she asked, wondering if she had heard him correctly. However, this made Sain angry.

"Hey! No fair, Kent! I saw her first!" he shouted, turning to his friend in protest. Kent looked startled, and I took it that he hadn't meant it like that, but Lyn was in no mood to pay attention to things like that. She was annoyed and ready to leave.

"Tsk! It seems there are no decent men among Lycia's knights!" She turned to me, "Let's go, Marisa! I'm out of patience!" With that, Lyn marched off past them. I trailed behind her, but tried to keep pace with her, staring at the back of her feet as she moved.

"Wait, please! It's not like that..." Kent called, and although I sensed there was at least some truth in that, Lyn didn't seem to care. She continued to move until we had exited the old iron gate. It was only then that she stopped her brisk pace, leaning against the wall to catch her breath. She glanced to me, still looking rather annoyed.

"Can you believe that? I hope they go home and don't come back. I've never had anything like that happen to me... Sacae is such a peaceful country," she said, closing her eyes. I waited patiently for her to simmer down, so that we could head out. She opened her eyes quite suddenly, looking back at me. "So you got all the food? That's good." Changing the subject to distract herself.

I nodded, "Yes..."

"I got clothes and satchels for each of us. I also decided to get this big backpack, so we can just carry all of our things in here! Isn't this neat?"

I, of course, had seen many such bags before, but she seemed amused and awed by it, so I acted as if I felt the same. "Yes."

"So we can just put everything in here and take turns carrying it," she stated, taking the food from my hands little by little and placing it carefully in the backpack. She had obviously already put our clothes into it, so the rest of the room inside could be taken up by our rations. I stood silently, waiting for her to finish packing everything so that we could go.

After she finished packing everything in, she handed me a small pack, my satchel. I tied it carefully around my waist. It was currently empty, but I knew that I would surely fill it before too long. Bags in the possession of women had a way of filling themselves, I found.

We were off to nowhere in particular before long. Lyn was focusing on where we were going; I, on the other hand, was busy watching where we had been. I noticed a few men standing next to the stone wall around Bulgar, staring in our direction. I whipped around quickly, jogging to Lyn's side. I stayed close to her, trying to hide in her side or behind the backpack on her back. I didn't particularly want to be seen, even though I knew it was far too late for that.

I glanced back behind us again, curiosity driving me to wonder if they were still there, staring us down. They were not... Now they were heading toward us. Rather quickly, at that.

"Lyn," I muttered worriedly, attracting her attention. She turned her head around, trying to find what I was looking at. Once she noticed their presence as well, the men began sprinting toward us. I saw worry flash through her deep green eyes.

"Run!" she screamed, "We're being pursued!" She faced forward again, taking off running as fast as she could manage. I took off running as well, and although I was not nearly as weighed down as her, I had trouble keeping pace with her. I was far more out of shape than she, not having actually _run_ anywhere for... well, a long time.

"Could it be those knights from town?" she almost had to shout to be heard over the clanking of the backpack and the panting of both of us. Too out of breath to force any words out, I only shook my head at her. There were more than two of them, that was for sure... She seemed to agree. "No... It's not them. These men are out for blood!"

I glanced back at them, noticing for the first time that they were carrying weapons. Axes, to be precise. I looked forward again just in time to see a large, hulking, rather ugly man step out to block our path from behind a tree. He had a scar trailing over his right eye, which only added to his intimidating look. He twirled an axe that seemed bigger than my torso around in his hand.

We stopped, trapped between this man-beast-thing and our pursuers.

"Heh heh hehhh..." he chuckled evilly, still playing with his axe. Then he threw it over his shoulder, "Aren't you the pretty one!"

Lyn looked shocked. Twice in one day? Really? She sighed lightly to herself, but said nothing in response.

"Your name is Lyndis, is it not?" he asked, actually sounding polite, but that was probably just to mock her. Lyn's eyes widened. I had never seen her look so surprised; I wasn't all too sure of what was happening myself.

"What did you just call me?" she demanded. The man's grin only widened at her reaction. She took a small step back, standing defensively. "...Who are you?"

"Such a waste," he said, shaking his head and ignoring her questions. "An absolute waste. The things I'll do for gold..." He stood up straight all of the sudden. "Ah, well." He shrugged. "Time to die, darlin'! C'mon out, boys!"

The men that had been pursuing us moved to surround us. Lyn and I both glanced around wildly, startled by the overwhelming odds.

"Oh, no!" Lyn cried, "There are more than I can handle... But..." she faced the man who had called her Lyndis, "I'll not give up!" she shouted determinedly at him.

"Hey! There she is!" we heard more shouting behind us, different voices than we had heard from the attackers. _Oh, Hell's Bells, what now?_

"Huh?" asked the scarred man dumbly.

"What?" Lyn questioned also, looking to find the source of the voice. As she turned, the scar-faced man turned to run away- away from us, to a safer place. I snorted indignantly. Coward. I turned then to face whoever had spoken. Much to my displeasure, I saw the two knights from town riding up to us.

"Whew... Finally caught up..." Sain stated, as if he would be at all out of breath from riding his little prancing pony. He looked up suddenly to the men moving hesitantly in around us. "Hold! You there! What is your business? Such numbers against a girl? Cowards, every one of you!" he called out to them boldly, waving his hand dismissively.

"You!" Lyn declared, somewhere between shocked and angry. "You're from-"

"We can discuss that later," Kent interrupted her hurriedly. "It appears these ruffians mean to do you harm. If it's a fight they want, let them look to me!"

"Stand back! I'll take care of this!" Sain shouted, trying to match Kent's brave statement. I looked them over; they seemed ill-equipped and unprepared for being knights...

"No! This is my fight!" Lyn protested angrily. _Ah, but weren't you just saying that there were too many for you, missy? _I sighed to myself, shaking my head. Nobody truly had any idea what to do except me.

"Well, I can't just stand here and do nothing..." Sain protested.

"I have a solution. You there," Kent stated, addressing me, "Command us." I laughed lightly; as if I wasn't going to do that anyway. "I am Kent, a knight of Lycia," he introduced himself formally and ignored my chuckles. "My companion is Sain. We will follow your orders in this battle." He turned back to Lyn, "Is this acceptable, milady?"

I was more concerned with the assassins closing in around us at that moment than I was with whether Lyn approved of me playing tactician again or not.

"Yes, it is," she replied quickly. "Marisa and I will lead!" I said nothing in response to that comment, keeping all thoughts to myself. "Let's go!"

By that time, the assassins had closed in around us. It was sloppy and poorly done, but they had entered a type of formation that I felt I had seen before. I almost wanted to laugh; this would be cake. Lyn handed the backpack with our things in it to me, since we both knew she couldn't have the extra baggage while fighting.

"Lyn," I began, my "commanding" voice returning to me temporarily. "Move up and attack that man closest to us. Use the trees for cover." She did as I commanded, darting and weaving through the trees. The man searched for her wildly, trying to prepare for her attack. However, she was simply too fast.

She leaped out from behind a tree and struck, stabbing into his side. He growled and swung to counterattack, but she had already evaded. She jumped back to attack once more, disappearing into the trees afterward.

While that was happening, I turned to Kent and Sain. "We need to head south. The next-closest one is down there. Let's get out of here."

Before either of them decided to follow my orders, Sain held his hand out to me. I only looked at it with an expression that read, "And what do you expect me to do with that?"

"I don't want to leave you behind. Our horses can move faster than you can on foot. If you please... I will protect you, milady," he explained himself in a very polite and even voice. I didn't like it one bit, but I would accept it for now. I couldn't go dying and leaving these poor fools to fend for themselves, now could I?

I took his hand, and he lifted me effortlessly onto his steed. He then whipped the reins, and we were off like a bolt of lightning. It took me a moment to catch my breath; I had never moved so fast in my life. The wind stung my eyes, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Riding on a horse was... so very freeing. Once I managed to forget that I was on a horse with Sain, of course.

"Kent, you stay in front," I ordered. He was the only of the two men not currently protecting me, and it would simply take too much time for me to be constantly jumping on and off of the horse. Besides, Kent was the only one of the two whom I knew had a sword. Kent moved into the nearby patch of trees and awaited the man closest to him to approach with an attack.

It took me a moment to notice, but the man who had been battling with Lyn had grown frustrated with trying to search for her in the trees. He gave up and moved south to attack Kent.

My eyes widened slightly. "Kent!" I shouted. Kent noticed the man attacking him at the last possible moment, yet was still able to pull his horse out of the way. While his assailant was busy trying to regain proper footing after his failed surprise attack, Kent swung, swiftly striking the man in the back. He cried out in pain and fell... dead.

I chuckled in surprise. They were actually quite powerful.

The man who I had expected to attack Kent halted in a patch of trees not too far away from him. Off in the distance, I also noticed a previously-stationary axeman moving out to attack. I quickly shuffled through all of my options in my mind, and then made a quick decision.

"Kent, move up to some of those trees up there and take cover. Wait for him to come to you. Lyn," I began to shout so that my voice would reach her, "Move north to meet that man that's coming our way! And remember, use the trees for cover!"

"And what about me, dear commander?" asked Sain somewhat poetically.

"Stay here," I muttered, peering around his side to watch what was happening with Kent and his current opponent. Each stuck to the trees, trying to use them for cover. However, our enemy made the mistake of moving first. Removing himself from behind the natural shield, he swung only to miss. Kent, in turn, counterattacked and landed a good hit in his chest.

"Oh, but why? I can fight, too, milady!" he insisted boldly.

"Yes, well, I believe you, but I've noticed you don't have a sword," I spoke at a normal volume to him, not focusing much on what he was saying. Looking north to observe Lyn's situation, I saw her and ugly criminal number three preparing to face off. She didn't move all the way to him, but remained in the trees as I had ordered. I smiled, pleased.

"Well, what does it matter if I have a sword? Don't you think a lance looks much more heroic? And they're more powerful!" Sain declared.

"Sain," I said in annoyance, looking back to him. "Swords have a natural advantage over axes because of the way they are made and designed. And besides, I need you to remain back here with me to make sure no harm comes to me. Do you understand?"

"Oh... ha ha. Of course!" he laughed, able to find his purpose in my explanation: protecting me. Apparently that was good enough for him. Which was good for me, because now he would shut up and I could focus.

I had missed part of Kent's battle. He and his foe had each landed a hit on the other. I grimaced, annoyed and wishing I had seen it happen. However, the axeman was swinging again... miss. I grinned at Kent took his final swing, striking his enemy down.

With that out of the way, I redirected my eyes to Lyndis. The thug swung and struck bark. As he struggled to pull his sword out, Lyn emerged and took this chance to attack. She swung lightning-fast three times, and he fell dead without another chance to move.

"Good, everyone! Meet in front of the bridge!" I shouted. Without hesitance, my three good soldiers followed my orders, meeting together just before a nearby bridge. They all stared at me for a moment, but I was busy studying the landscape. Once I was finished, I turned back to them.

"Alright, we have two enemies left. I doubt either of them will go anywhere... they are waiting for us to come to them. That's fine. The first one is waiting just at the end of this bridge, and the other is north, by the edge of the mountains up there. Lyn, you're going to take down both," I said... and all in one breath, too! Score.

"...Milady. Wouldn't it be safer if one of us took point?" questioned Kent, sounding concerned. I turned to him to respond.

"Maybe. But this will be quicker. Lyn is fastest and the best choice of you three for fighting these types of enemies. Trust me, she can do this. I have faith in her... and even if something goes wrong, she has vulneraries. So, at your ready... oh f, here he comes," I cut myself off, noticing the man having grown impatient and charging toward Lyn. She stood ready, prepared for his attack.

He swung wildly, and with it being so uncontrolled and reckless, she dodged his axe with ease. She jumped back to swing twice at him, faster than any man on horseback could hope to move. I smiled. I was proud of her. She was surely growing stronger...

Both Lyn and the axeman stood back up, readying themselves.

"Finish him," I instructed. Lyn readied her blade, and charged. He held his axe up with some hope of parrying or blocking her attack, but it was useless. She hit it aside, and then stabbed into his chest. She halted about a second and a half before drawing back, removing her blade from his chest and stepping back.

I kept a straight face, trying not to let it show that the sight of so much blood made me feel ill. I coughed once, and then dismounted from Sain's horse.

"Okay, one more..." I said, walking toward him. The others followed me, keeping pace with me. I moved across the bridge, standing in front of him but a good distance away. He grimaced and clutched his axe tightly in one hand. "He's not moving, guaranteed. He's the commander... He's waiting for us. ...Finish him, Lyn!"

With a war cry, she charged up to the scar-faced man, the one who had dared to challenge us... I stood tall and confident, my arms crossed and my eyes unwavering. Kent and Sain sat idly on their horses, viewing the battle with obvious worry but saying nothing.

Lyn and Mister Scar-Face began to face off, exchanging blows. I watched with pride as Lyn struck at him while he couldn't manage to land even a single hit on her. This was a definite improvement from our first battle, where she couldn't seem to dodge if the world depended on it.

A grin crossed my face when Lyn struck the final blow, making the scarred man draw back. Blood flowed steadily from his wounds, and he coughed from choking on the precious crimson liquid.

"Blast," he choked out, "There was only... supposed to be a lone... girl..." he muttered, though mostly to himself, I took it. His final words disturbed me greatly; there was someone who wanted Lyn dead, and had hired this pack of monkeys to take her down. But as he fell dead and Lyn turned around to meet me again, I decided that I would worry about that later.

"That's the last of them! Fantastic work, Marisa!" she shouted merrily, running to my side. Without much warning, she wrapped her arms around me in an embrace. I gasped in surprise, frozen in her arms. The first emotion that came to me was terrified; there was something I was hoping she wouldn't notice. But when she drew back without saying anything or giving me any strange looks, the fear fled and the annoyance came.

I took a second to simmer down. I wanted to slap myself; she was only trying to be nice. What was wrong with me? I supposed that years of moving around and trusting no one made it hard to accept any sort of kindness. That was still no excuse for feeling this way around Lyn, but at least I had trained myself to keep my mouth shut, so I had yet to upset her.

"And now for these knights of Lycia," she said, looking past me to Kent and Sain, who were waiting patiently on their horses. I stepped aside to make way for her, and the two men dismounted so that they were at the same level as she was. "You were going to share your story with me?" she asked hesitantly. She seemed ready to push past her confusion and learn the truth... I knew I was.

"Yes," Kent began, seemingly deep in thought. He was trying to figure out how to start. He continued, "We have ventured from Caelin, in Lycia, in search of someone."

"Lycia... That's the country beyond the mountains to the southwest, isn't it?" she questioned. I said nothing, but was surprised by how well she knew her geography for having lived in the middle of nowhere.

"Correct," Kent confirmed. "We've come as messengers to the lady Madelyn, who eloped with a nomad some 19 years ago."

"Madelyn?" Lyn questioned softly. It seemed as though she knew someone by that name...

"Our lord the marquess of Caelin's only daughter," Kent explained. So a princess, sort of. Lyn was friends with a princess? Cool beans. "He was heartbroken his own daughter would abandon him so. Eventually, the marquess simply declared that he had no daughter."

I "hmph"ed to myself, looking down and closing my eyes. For someone like me, with no family, it was difficult to accept that anyone could disown a member of their family... and their own child, no less. I decided then that I didn't like whoever this marquess was.

"And then this year, we received a letter from Lady Madelyn," Sain continued the story. "It said that she, her husband, and their daughter were living happily on the Sacae plains." Sain's smile widened, "The marquess was ecstatic to learn he had a granddaughter of 18 years. I remember the smile on his face when he announced that he'd suddenly become a grandfather."

I continued to dislike the marquess they spoke of... he seemed, in my opinion, ungrateful. However, I didn't comment about my thoughts out loud, but let the knights continue to explain. "The granddaughter's name was Lyndis."

That was when it finally hit me. Madelyn wasn't Lyn's friend, it was her departed mother. Lyn was the granddaughter of a marquess... royalty. I smiled and exhaled sharply, but Lyn's expression remained shocked and she barely moved, even to breathe. She seemed to be having trouble digesting this information, but I supposed I would too if I were her.

"This was also the name of the marquess's wife, who passed away at an early age," Sain informed. Madelyn had named Lyn after Madelyn's own mother... how sweet. Ah, it warmed my heart to hear about the love families still shared.

"Lyndis?" Lyn inquired, her voice still soft and hesitant. I hadn't heard her speak in such a way before, so I knew she must have lots of questions, or maybe she was lost in her own thoughts. I found it sad that speaking softly, Lyn's normal voice was still louder than mine.

"That she should bear this name thawed the marquess's heart," Sain explained. "Now, his only wish is to meet his daughter's family at least once. This is why we're here. We didn't know that Lady Madelyn died a few days after sending her letter..." A somber silence fell over the four of us for a short moment. "We only learned this shortly after we arrived here in Bulgar."

"But we also learned all was not lost. Her daughter yet lives," Kent continued for Sain. "We heard that she was living alone on the plains..." He seemed to have trouble choosing his next words. "I... I knew it immediately. You are the lady Lyndis."

"Why would you think that..." Lyn muttered, shaking her head. It seemed as though she was experiencing a great deal of disbelief.

"Your resemblance to your departed mother is remarkable," Kent remarked.

"What? Did you know my mother?" asked Lyn anxiously.

Kent seemed surprised by her question. "I'm sorry to say that I never met her directly, but I saw her portraits in Castle Caelin." Lyn was silent a moment before saying anything, trying to take all of this in.

"To the rest of my tribe, I was always Lyn..." she said, "But when I was with my parents... When it was just the three of us, I was Lyndis." She paused briefly, closing her eyes. "It's all so strange. I was all alone in the world, and now I have a grandfather. Lyndis... I never thought I would hear that name again."

Kent, Sain and I were silent, letting her have a moment to herself to gather her thoughts.

"Wait!" she shouted suddenly, startling us all. "That bandit! He called me Lyndis, too!" That was right... he had called her Lyndis. Well, all of this explained why she was so surprised when he did so. I hoped that Kent and Sain would have an answer to this, but they looked just as shocked as Lyn did.

"What? How could he have-"

But Sain cut his friend off with a concerned look, "...He was a henchman of Lord Lundgren, wasn't he?"

"Lundgren? Who's that?" Lyn questioned, asking for me as well.

"He's the marquess's younger brother," Kent explained. "Everyone assumed the lady Madelyn was gone forever. This made Lord Lundgren heir to the marquess's title."

"To be blunt, milady," Sain continued, surprisingly nonchalant, "Your existence is an obstacle to your granduncle's ambitions."

"That's- But I have no interest in inheriting any title!" Lyn protested, seething. Someone she had not had the pleasure of meeting was trying to kill her. I chuckled silently to myself; I knew the feeling... But I shook my head. This was about her.

"Unfortunately, your granduncle is not the sort of man to believe that. I believe the attempts on your life will persist," Sain guessed.

"What should I do?" Lyn wondered out loud, sounding like a lost child.

"Accompany us to Caelin," Kent answered quickly. "Continuing on this way is dangerous."

"I feel I have little choice. I will go with you," Lyn decided. "...Do you mind if we have a moment?" she asked suddenly, motioning to me.

"Oh... yes, of course, milady," Kent replied, and the two knights turned and paced away. Lyn waited until they were out of earshot to begin speaking to me.

"Marisa... I'm sorry. This changes everything," she said sadly. She seemed truly remorseful that she had dragged me into this, and that she had to retract her offer of traveling with me. "What will you do, Marisa?"

What would I do? I had planned on spending a long while with Lyndis. We had already prepared to travel together, what was the sense in my leaving her now? She would need my help... She seemed to be counting on me. ...Unless, of course, my assumptions were wrong, and she actually wanted me to leave.

"...You can choose," I decided, shaking my head unknowingly. I didn't want to displease her in any way, especially after she had helped me. If I left, I would be going nowhere again. But if I accompanied her, we would be marching straight into death, and that certainly wasn't my preferred pastime.

"You... want me to decide?" she questioned in a small voice. She seemed surprised by my response, and pondered her options for a short moment. "Of course, your companionship would do much to ease my journey, but... It's going to be so dangerous."

I understood what she meant. She knew she would need skills like mine if she was going to go up against someone with an army at his disposal. But at the same time, she didn't want me to feel obligated or force me to do anything, because she knew the chances of us dying was higher than not. But since when did I care about that?

I shook my head, "I'll come with you."

"You'll come? Are you sure?" she demanded anxiously. She probably had not expected me to tag along. I only nodded. She smiled widely, "Thank you!" She took one of my hands and clutched it tight between both of hers, looking me straight in the eye. "Let me ask once again for your friendship and your aid."

I couldn't help but smile a little. She seemed to be grateful, like she really appreciated what I was doing for her. Me, on the other hand... I was worried. Their lives were in my hands. There was a lot of responsibility on my shoulders... I only hoped that I could live up to their expectations.

Lyn released my hand quite suddenly, and I let it fall limply back to my side. She returned to Kent and Sain, looking back occasionally as she walked to make sure I was coming along, too. We were all together before too long, Lyndis preparing to speak.

"I've spoken with Marisa, and she's agreed to come along, as well," Lyn informed, putting her arm around me and pulling me up to her side. My eyes darted between the two knights, looking for their first reactions. Sain didn't seem to care one way or the other, but Kent look a bit concerned. He didn't show it in his expression, but I could see it in his eyes. Despite this, he smiled politely.

"Alright. We thank you for your assistance, milady," he said, still trying to be polite.

"Glad to have you, Marisa!" added Sain with a huge, cheesy smile.

I smiled a bit, but said nothing, staring at my feet afterward.

"I... there's somewhere I want to go first," Lyn stated. "It's not too far away, I promise."

"Alright, and where is it you're wanting to go?" inquired Kent in his usual polite and even voice. Lyn only smiled.

"It's a surprise. You'll see," she said mysteriously.

"Oh, I do love surprises!" Sain declared. I gave him a harsh look, but Lyn simply ignored him. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly when he noticed my glare.

"We are at your command, my lady," Kent confirmed. This seemed to make Lyn happy, for she smiled hugely once again.

"Thank you. Off we go!" she announced, marching off toward the east. Without another word, I began moving as well, trudging with the heavy backpack strapped to my back. I tried not to complain; Lyn was excited, I would let her have her moment. I had to do my fair share in this as well.

It wasn't long before Kent and Sain suggested we ride on their horses with them, if we pleased. It would make the trip much faster. Lyn seemed to agree rather quickly, but we paused a moment when we tried to decide who would ride with who. I decided I would spare her and sit behind Sain, while she could take the spot behind Kent.

I tried to forget where I was and took this opportunity to stare at the sky. It was unusually cloudy, though not so much so that the blue of the sky was blocked from my view completely. The sun's rays were filtered by the thin white fluffs, and the temperature was cool but comfortable. I was so content with looking at the sky that if anyone had tried to make conversation with me, I failed to notice.

I lost myself in my thoughts, in my own world, where nothing bad ever happened.

* * *

><p>Before I was aware that it had even gotten dark, we were stopping for the night. Lyn broke out the food and the knights were out getting firewood. All of the meat was cooked, but we figured it would be nice to have one just for the warmth it would bring.<p>

I took this opportunity to slip off on my own to change clothes. There was something hidden under my dress and cloak that I was hiding, something I hoped no one else would ever see. Since the others were busy, I figured I should hurry and change before anyone saw anything.

I was back to camp before anyone even noticed my absence. Lyn rationed our food between the four of us, giving us each just a little. No one was sure when we'd come across food next, so we had to be careful. Since I had eaten a lot more than I was used to in the last couple days, I was hardly hungry, and the meager serving filled me up.

I watched in amazement as Kent and Sain built a fire. They had some special rock that made creating sparks easier, so they could start a fire within just minutes. I couldn't help but smile as I watched the fire grow bigger and bigger... it was almost like magic. The flames danced up from the crackling wood, the scent of smoke becoming more and more noticeable as the night went on.

Lyn was asleep first. She was obviously very tired from the day's battle. Aside from that, I knew she was going through a lot, and it must have exhausted her. Kent and Sain talked amongst themselves, so I felt it would be better if I distanced myself from them. I crawled a fair distance away from camp, faced away and looked up at the stars.

It must have been a good hour or so that I sat alone, staring at the moon and the stars, but it only felt like seconds.

"...Excuse me, Marisa," I heard a male voice. I didn't bother looking back. Maybe if I pretended I didn't hear, whoever it was would go away. But of course, no such luck. Sain sat himself down next to me. I didn't look over, but continued to stare at the sky instead. "Are you alright, milady?" he asked, more politely that I had expected.

I continued to stare up at the sky in silence.

"You commanded most forcefully on the battlefield today. You were stunning! But I believe I've yet to hear a word from you since! Why the sudden silence?"

I glanced very quickly to him, and then off to my other side, staring at the distant trees.

"...Forgive me if I'm bothering you. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright," he explained. I pulled my knees into my chest, resting my head on them and continuing to stare off into the distance at nothing in particular. "...Have I angered you?"

I didn't move. He sounded strange, almost insincere. But I supposed that was probably because he wasn't used to speaking to any female without being flirtatious.

"You'll have to forgive me for my terrible first impression, milady. I intend to make it up to you and show you what I'm capable of."

This seemed so unlike him. Maybe he really meant it. I turned my head toward him to look at him, though he looked sideways to me, for I was still laying my head on my knees.

He shot me a small smile. "I'll excuse myself now." He stood without another word. He probably knew that he had to earn my approval before he could earn the Lady Lyndis's. I figured he also wanted me to trust him, and moreover, let him have a chance at fighting on the battlefield instead of being forced to carry me around all the time. Well, he had made the effort... I would have to obey his wishes.

As if to replace Sain, Kent appeared at my side at once. I looked up to him, to silently let him know that I was paying attention, but looked to the ground afterward.

"...That was, um... certainly an interesting battle strategy earlier today, Marisa," said Kent as he sat down next to me. I didn't look up to him, but instead drew lines in the dirt. "...It was... different than others that I have seen before. I was... surprised at its... effectiveness." He was hesitant, choosing his words carefully. I laughed lightly to myself, knowing he was only sugar coating the true message: I was young and inexperienced and didn't command out of a book. He hadn't expected such an easy victory. I understood.

"Well, I'm a lot different than most tacticians," I told him in my usual weak voice. He seemed surprised that I was actually speaking, but didn't comment on it. "I never had any formal classes or training."

"Really?" he asked in surprise. "I... well, you seem experienced for not having received any training before." He probably wasn't surprised. He probably knew tons of battle formations, and even though he had to give me credit for commanding only three people, he was aware that my battle strategies were not professional. "How did you learn, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I taught myself. I borrowed books from the library near where I used to... stay," I admitted. "I used to read them for fun. I've only commanded a few actual battles before, though, and... Well... to be honest, there has only been one where lives were actually at stake before today's." That was my first battle with Lyn. After a short pause, I continued, "I would hate fighting out of a book. It's boring and unoriginal. Why work with already-made plans when you can do something faster?"

He said nothing. He was clearly terrified of this dark, sadistic-seeming part of me that I often kept hidden. I could almost hear his thoughts...: "'Boring and unoriginal'? How about safe and sane? Crap, she's gone mad..."

I grinned just slightly. "You don't trust me to command you successfully. You think I'm going to get you guys killed."

Ding ding ding, I guessed it correctly. His expression said it all. But still, he shook his head, "Well, it's not exactly that. I'm just uneasy about serving under someone without training... Of course, none of us could do better. And your plans have worked splendidly thus far... I'm just uneasy about the entire situation." I wondered if he meant the me-planning-every-battle-from-here-to-Caelin part, or the we're-being-hunted-by-a-madman part. Perhaps both. "We'll just have to be careful..."

I nodded, my serious face returning. "I know. I'm not extremely excited about all of this, but... I can't part with Lyn. I'll stay with her until death."

"...You and Lady Lyndis... are close?" he questioned. But he caught himself soon after, "My apologies. I didn't mean to ask something so personal." I shook my head.

"We're not very close, actually. We only met a few days ago."

There was a long silence after that. He was probably confused, and more than that, wondering if I was trustworthy. I continued to stare at the sky in silence, leaving him to his thoughts. Eventually, he spoke again.

"...I'm going to stay up to keep watch, but you should try to get some sleep, milady. We've a long road ahead of us."

I only nodded, pushing myself to my feet. I noticed as I walked that my legs were very shaky. My body was still quite weak, I knew, but I felt as if I was getting better. If I could keep eating like I was, I was sure I would be rid of my illness in no time.

I laid down not too far away from Lyn, lying with nothing but the fire behind me to keep me warm. I stared at Lyndis as she slept; she looked so very peaceful... I wondered how she could sleep soundly at times like these.

I rolled over to face the fire. Sain was sitting next to it, prodding one of the logs with a small stick. Past him was Kent, who sat on a rock and stared into the distance...

They were good people. They meant well and they wanted to protect Lyn... and perhaps me, as well. I let my eyes fall shut, staring at the insides of my eyelids instead of the beautiful Sacae sky. For the first time in a very long time, I felt... safe.

* * *

><p>Another chapter down... yet so many more to go.<p>

I hope Sain's OOC moment wasn't too much for anyone. It was supposed to be a bonding moment type of thing...

Please review. I love you all. Til next time.

*1= Cut out some dialogue between Lyn and Sain for plot purposes.


	4. Chapter Two: Sword of Spirits

Story: Lyn, Hard Mode.

Tactician Data-  
>Name: Marisa.<br>Birth Month: September. (Affinity: Fire.)  
>Gender: Female.<p>

Notes: Sorry for the wait, everyone. I have had sooooo much to do. I'm finally home, though, and everything is settling down. My charger was MIA for awhile, but I found it (obviously, since you are reading this...), and now I will be able to do some real work on this thing. Sorry that this chapter is not very long. The next update will either be very soon or in, like, a week. (4th of July holiday coming up soon.) Thank you, and enjoy!

To the reviewer...!

_MattyBoy91:_ Thank you again for corrections. I see what you mean about the redundancy... I'll try to quit that in the upcoming chapters. I'm glad you enjoyed this bit. I expect chapters to be 10k apiece or so for the rest of Lyn's story, so I'm glad you liked the longer chapter. (Sorry this one is not very long...) I'm really hoping I'll be able to give Marisa more speaking parts, but she's not going to be very social until about Ch 7, so I'm guessing it will be mostly her thoughts (though I am considering her being friends with Florina for the first couple chapters...). But I'll see what I can do for you! Thanks for the support and praise as well; it means so much to me. Thank you for the review, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fire Emblem, its dialogue, etc, but it would be really cool if I did. I only own Marisa.

Chapter Two-  
>Objective: Seize throne.<br>Enemies: 6.  
>Unitscharacters: Marisa, Lyn, Kent, Sain.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Two: Sword of Spirits<strong>_

Everything was black, but I knew my eyes were open. I blinked a few times to confirm this fact... and yes, my eyes were indeed open. I looked around for some kind of light source, but I couldn't find one. I couldn't see anything... I felt my face with my hands, even though I was sure there was nothing covering my eyes. I had to be somewhere very dark...

This place seemed familiar. The sounds of screams, followed by crashing. The smell of sweat and blood. Every detail swallowed in darkness...

Have I been here before?

Temporarily deaf to the chaos ensuing nearby, I felt around for something, anything. I eventually ran into something hard, and was nearly knocked off of my feet. Feeling in front of me with my hands, I found that I had actually run into a door.

I opened it ever so slightly and peeked out through the crack. I saw people... people I didn't know. Several looked around the room for any sign of movement, and it must have been a miracle that no one saw me.

I noticed that most of the people in that room looked nearly the same... They all had dark hair. They had pale skin, even paler than mine, which I had thought would have been impossible. Sickness kept my skin a milky color, so I was used to it, but these people seemed pale even to me. Aside from that, they also had the most stunning, most hypnotizing golden eyes...

There were two that stuck out among the rest. One was a young boy- I was surprised, for I knew he couldn't have been more than eight or so years older than I. Only a teenager... His skin was very dark compared to that of the others in the room. In his hands, he held daggers. I noticed that they looked exactly the same, and were probably made as a pair. They seemed abnormally large for daggers... but more than all of that, they were red. They had a natural red tint, but they were also covered in blood.

Next to him stood a very tall man. He was facing away from me, so I couldn't see any of his face. He wore a magic-user's robe and cape; I knew this because I had always been quite interested in magic, and had spent a lot of time looking at picture books on the topic. He also wore a turban over his face that covered all of his hair.

"...I grow tired of these games," said the magic-user. "Tell me where I can find the oldest. I know you have another child."

"...I... N...never," replied a girl, someone whose voice I easily recognized...

...Mom...

The magic-user laughed loudly. "Stupid woman. There's no hope for you or your daughter. Why not end your own suffering while you can?" ...Was he talking about me?

"...Wh...why... would you do this?" Mom coughed. I tried moving to get a better look at her, peering through the crack at a different angle. I saw her; her brown hair hung messily in her face. I wasn't used to seeing her look so imperfect... she had always been so beautiful, everything about her so stunning. Something bad was happening...

She was injured. She clutched a wound in her side, but that didn't keep her from bleeding. I also noticed blood on her face, but she seemed far less concerned about that. She cringed on her knees, but still looked up at the magic-user with such defiance in her eyes...

"This is your fault. You would not open the gate for me, so I will kill you and your family as punishment. And after this, I will continue to hunt the remainder of your pathetic race... Why not save the others pain? You could have lived. Your husband could have lived. Your children could have lived. But now they're dead, and it's your fault."

...My father... dead? My twin brothers, Benjamin and Zedekia, both three years old... my baby sister, Senarisse, not even one year of age... They... were gone?

"...Blackheart..." she muttered, looking down. "...Devil!" Mom lunged up suddenly, pulling out a dagger that she had previously been concealing in her dress. However, she was stopped when the boy at the magic-user's side shoved one of his daggers forward. It stabbed into her stomach, making her scream in pain.

I threw my hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming in sadness. Tears came to me instantly, slithering down my cheeks and over my hand. The boy pulled back roughly, tearing the dagger from her flesh. Mom stumbled backward until she met the nearby wall, leaning against it and coughing violently.

"Ha... sneaky, but you can't hope to keep up with this boy. ...Now then..." The dark magic-user lunged forward suddenly, grasping my mother by the neck and holding her against the wall. She gasped for air, unable to breathe with his fingers squeezing the breath out of her. However, she did not struggle for long. After only a few seconds, she fell limp under the pressure of the hand that choked her.

"...Despair," the man whispered to my mother. If it were not completely silent other than those two, I would have been unable to hear him from such a distance, but...

"NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. But immediately afterwards, I realized I had made a mistake. The magic-user froze, and then stared at the nearby wall, as if trying to detect where I was.

"...She's here. Find her," he commanded. Without hesitation, the golden-eyed people were off, running through the house in search of me. Knowing I couldn't wait any longer, I turned around and ran away... upstairs, away from them. Hopefully I could find some way out from up there.

**_...Black..._**

I bolted upright, panting terribly hard. I felt sweat dripping down the side of my face. It was another few seconds before I realized that I was crying. Sobbing, actually. Feeling overwhelmed by grief for no particular reason other than the fact that I had just had another nightmare, I sobbed as I pleased.

Until I remembered that the others were asleep nearby.

I slapped my hand over my mouth, trying to suppress the sobs. I glanced around until I spotted Lyn. I felt relief wash over me when I found that she was still asleep. Good, I hadn't woken her. Nearby, Sain was lying down also, asleep. Kent was nowhere to be seen, but I didn't care about that at the moment.

All of the sudden, I felt the very urgent need to throw up. I sat still and took deep breaths for a moment, hoping the feeling would pass. I often experienced feelings of nausea when I was hot, and then occasionally for no reason because I was sick all the time. After much more deep-breathing that I had the patience for, I realized that the feeling was not going away... it was getting worse.

I leapt up to my feet, taking off running. I had no idea where I planned on going, but I was running. I pressed my hand tightly over my mouth, as if that would stop anything. I looked around wildly for a ditch, a water source, anything that would hide it or suppress the smell or something-

Too late. I forced myself to stop running as the previous night's dinner came up.

I stood bent over in one spot, coughing incessantly. It was a few moments before I could even breathe again. I gasped for air when I finally got my breath back, feeling quite sick to my stomach. I panted as if exhausted, continuing to cry.

I longed suddenly for my parents' presence. My father, who would always sit with me when I got sick and tell me stories. My mother, who would always make her special stew for me when I wasn't feeling well. And I had always been such a sickly child... but that was fine, because that had been the only occasion when my parents would spend real time with me. I wanted them so bad...

Mom, Dad... Why did you have to go...?

"Aaaaah! Give them back! Please!" I screamed up at the sky, to no one. I knew it was impossible to have my parents back, but that didn't stop me from wanting them. My heart ached as sadness plunged into it, and I continued to sob.

Why couldn't I be strong? Why couldn't I move on? It had been ten years since they were killed. Lyn's parents had only been dead half a year, and she seemed perfectly fine! Why couldn't I be like her? Why couldn't I be... normal?

* * *

><p>Kent had wondered where I was, but I simply told him that I had awoken from a nightmare and decided to take a walk. There was at least some truth to that. When he asked if I had heard someone screaming, I revealed that it had been me, but lied and told him that I had only seen a spider. (In truth, I was deathly terrified of spiders. At that point in my life, I had many fears, but that list is quite long, so I'll spare you that for the time being.)<p>

Kent didn't tell the others about my midnight "walk", and neither did I. Aside from Lyn asking how I slept, no one spoke to me for the remainder of the morning. I got ready in silence, deciding not to change clothes again because I wasn't allowed any time away from Lyn that morning.

The remainder of the trip was not long. It was only a few hours before we arrived at our destination. Behind a large stone wall was a tan-brick temple. It was surrounded by a few trees with houses to the south. Considering this was the first real building we had seen since Bulgar, I had to assume that this was where Lyn was trying to lead us.

Once the altar was in view, Lyn stopped and dismounted. She ran excitedly to it, stopping herself after a moment. I followed suit, trying to keep pace with her but not wanting much to run. I stepped up to her side, and it took her a moment to realize that I had reached her. She smiled on at the altar for a moment before turning to me.

"Marisa, hold a moment, and allow me a short detour," she said, surprisingly formal. I figured she was trying to make a good impression on me with whatever this altar was. I directed my attention to her without a word.

"There is a sacred sword enshrined in an altar east of here," she revealed, seeming more excited than I had ever seen her. "The people of Sacae go there to pray for safety at the onset of a long journey."

"Oh! How quaint!" Sain cut in, speaking as if he were reciting a poem.

"The teachings of Elimine have the most followers in Elibe. It is nice to see that, here at least, the ancient customs and still observed," Kent noted, though it seemed as if he was mostly speaking to himself. I, of course, had studied about the eight heroes- Roland, Hartmut, Elimine, Hanon, Durban, Athos, Barigan and Bramimond- since their role in the war Scouring was key to the humans' victory. Besides that, they founded the nations on Elibe, making their existence common knowledge. Elimine had founded the nation of Etruria, but her teachings were the most popular of all the heroes in Elibe. She was famous. It only made sense that there was a place dedicated to her, even in this primitive place.

I was broken away from my thoughts very suddenly when I noticed someone walking in the distance. I had trained myself to watch everyone, but I expected to look over and find nothing more than a man going to the altar to pray. Or, rather, coming from it, since he was walking this way...

"So, milady, are you ready to proceed?" asked Kent to Lyndis. I mostly ignored their conversation, paying more attention to the men.

I noticed another person outside the temple. And another, and another, and another... Hmm. They were all armed, I noticed clearly. They had giant axes, similar to the men we had fought before. They wore grimaces, looking around like they would tear apart the first person they saw. I got a chill; I didn't like this at all.

"Yes, we should get going," Lyn was saying. I would have said something if not for something else attracting my attention. Creeping along the wall outside the temple was a woman. She noticed us quickly. Glancing around briefly and seeing that no one was watching her, she made a mad dash for us.

Good, someone who would know what was going on. She reached us quickly, trying to catch her breath as she approached. Lyn noticed her and stepped in front of us, preparing to speak to the lady.

"I beg your pardon, milady," panted the random woman. "Are you headed east? To the altar?" Perhaps she had come to warn us.

"Yes, we are indeed," Lyn confirmed.

The woman's eyes lit up. "Then you must hurry and help the priest there. I saw a band of local ruffians head in there not long ago. They seemed intent on stealing the altar's sacred sword!" And now we were involved. Woohoo. Might as well jump off a cliff, we seem to be running into so much danger.

"The Mani Katti..." Worry flashed through Lyn's emerald eyes. "They're going to steal it? I cannot allow this to happen!" Cue battle music, here we go. More bleeding. Granted, helping would be the right thing to do... The sword was apparently special, so anyone trying to steal it should be stopped, but... why us?

"You look like a virtuous group. Please, help him!" the woman replied, seeming genuinely concerned for the piece of haunted metal.

"Lyndis, what are you planning?" questioned Sain, appearing to be fairly serious now. He was probably concerned about our safety, like any sane person should be.

"If you hope to go to the priest's aid, you'll need to prepare," Kent stated logically.

"You're right..." Lyn agreed, backing up a moment and trying to analyze the situation. It wasn't long before she looked to me. "Marisa. Can you handle this? It's very important that we protect the Mani Katti." I nodded slowly.***1**

My brain clicked into tactician mode. I started surveying the area between us and the altar. A small wall to my right. Scattered trees over the plains. And beyond that... who knows. I turned to the woman who had asked for our help.

"Get out of here. Go somewhere safe. Go hide in one of those houses, I don't care," I commanded quickly, shooing her away. The last thing I needed was someone helpless getting in the way. She did as I commanded, running south to the houses. I didn't bother watching her for long, focusing more on what the others should do.

"Kent," I said simply, motioning for him to come. He rode to my side, and with his help, I mounted the horse, sitting behind him. I tried to peer over the wall from there, but I still couldn't see. Oh well. "This will be another battle for Lyn. So Lyn, you take point," I commanded, pointing forward. She walked on ahead, moving toward some trees to use them for cover. Kent turned to me with a worried look.

"Marisa... I know you're the tactician, but I'm not comfortable with letting Lady Lyndis do all of the fighting. I would like it if you would let at least one of us assist."

I was silent for a moment before responding. "You're right, Kent. I am the tactician. I know what I am doing. But if it will ease your fears, Sain will ride at Lyndis's side."

"...Yes. Thank you." I could tell he didn't like me. He didn't like the way I commanded. He didn't like that I kept them from fighting. Well, he would have to suck it up. I was annoyed enough to have to keep Sain in the way, and he would probably continue to nag me all battle. One more reason to love my job. Kent handed his sword to Sain, keeping only a lance. Sain began to ride to the Lady Lyndis.

Lyn darted through the trees, slicing at the first man that approached her. He swung, but since it was so slow and clumsy, she dodged with ease. As I observed, I noticed how much she had improved ever since our first battle. Most of that was probably because she got so much fighting in... She was the one who would need to be able to defend herself in the future, of course. Lyn struck again, and her opponent was dead in an eye's blink.

Sain rode to her side. I told Kent to move up to the wall so that I could see around it. I was surprised when I glanced to the other side to see two men closing in. The ground there, however, was quite hilly, almost like small mountains. That would slow them down for sure. Lyn looked to me for her next order.

"Move forward, and keep in the trees," I said simply. My orders were getting kind of predictable- I didn't have much to work with. The gorilla-man-thing charged up, slicing at Lyn. Dodge, slice, whack, dead. Easy as pie. I grinned with pride; my little Lyn was getting good.

"Stay put and wait for the next one," I shouted anxiously, leaning forward to watch what would happen next. Dodge, double hit, dead. Hmm, are we seeing a pattern here? After her most recent foe fell dead, I saw no more in the immediate area. I decided to take a few deep breaths and look around again.

"Everyone gather," I ordered. They did so, staring at me expectantly. I looked around, eventually noticing something interesting. A couple of rather big cracks in the nearby stone wall. I grinned... bingo. "See those cracks?" I asked, pointing to them. Everyone turned to look. "If you destroy that area of the wall, it'll give you an entrance."

I got a couple of looks that read, "Don't you have a moral issue with destroying a religious temple?"

"You can rebuild a temple. You can't piece together a broken body and give it life again. Enough said, yes? Kent, Sain, murder the wall. Lyn, you and I are heading south." I jumped off the horse and began marching south. Without another word, the men began swinging at the wall. Lyn followed me down and over the hilly terrain.

The men had created an entrance for themselves by the time Lyn and I were back to even ground. Much to my surprise, there was another man standing outside of the temple, in front of us. He growled as he saw us, coming to tear us up.

Lyn leapt into the nearby trees for cover. The man, trying to catch her, swung at where she was, hitting a tree instead. Lyn reappeared to cut him to ribbons, killing him in just two hits.

"Nice work," I complimented, feeling my blood rushing beneath my skin. That was closer to the fighting than I liked, but Lyn had protected me well. She muttered a thank you, and then stared expectantly, waiting for her next orders. "...Alright. Let's head inside."

Kent and Sain were already inside, waiting for us. It appeared that there had been a small fighting, for Sain had a wound in his shoulder that he was trying to ignore. There was only one enemy remaining... he stood by the small throne-type chair, a sword lying behind him. Since he wielded a different sword, I assumed that the one on the throne was the Mani Katti.

So he was their little ringleader. He picked the wrong day to attack this temple.

"Lyn... go ahead." There was nothing for her to take cover behind, so the only real order I could give her was to attack. The man who had tried to steal the sword waited where he was for her to reach him.

"Who do you think you are? What chance do you think you have against me?" roared the thief. I laughed not only out loud, but loudly. Everyone seemed to ignore me for the most part. Lyn and the thief battled it out; it would be tougher for Lyn, I knew, because she was no longer facing an axe-fighter, but a swordsman. But I knew she would pull through.

Lyn moved first, slicing his stomach. I knew after he took that first hit that this battle would not be like the others. This man... he was stronger. But still not strong enough to stop Lyndis, unfortunately for him.

His swing was graceful, refined by many battles. But Lyndis anticipated his attack, dodging just in time. She took advantage of the downtime after his failed attack to strike again, stabbing through his back.

"Argh!" he shouted, slicing upward as Lyndis tried to pull back. He struck her in the chest. It was not very deep, but it was enough to make her wince, and enough to make me begin to worry for her. Kent and Sain both flinched as if to rush forward to aid Lyndis.

"Hold!" I shouted in annoyance. They froze, though they looked unhappy about my order. Lyn and her foe each pulled back to regain their composure. Before the man had much time to gather himself, Lyn was rushing him. He tried to block, but was unable to in time. She stabbed through his chest.

"You... You... Urr... urgh..." he coughed, unable to form real words in his pain. Lyn pulled back roughly, and the man fell dead without another word. She looked down at him with a bit of pity but more relief.

Lyndis stepped over the dead man and to the throne. On it laid not only the Mani Katti, but a key as well. Lyn looked around for what the key might belong to, and before long noticed a door. The knights dismounted to stand behind her as she unlocked the door. I would have thought that she would just drink her vulnerary, but apparently she was too concerned with rescuing the priest to care at the moment.

I bent down to search the man's body. I had noticed he had had a vulnerary on him... Aha, there it was. I untied the vial from his waist and put it into my satchel. I searched over his body for anything else that might be useful. His sword was old and basically useless, so I decided to leave that.

I found myself dragging my finger through his blood. I smeared some across the ground... still warm. I wiped my hand on his clothes- they were already stained, and I was sure he wouldn't mind.

"Ah, your clothing... are you of the Lorca tribe?" I heard a new voice. I decided to stand up and pay attention. Looking to the others, I saw an elderly man speaking. This was probably the priest who had been charged with looking after the Mani Katti.

I backed up to lean against the wall. I tilted my head down, pulling my cloak over my eyes. I shut my eyes and listened as Lyn began to speak.

"I'm Lyn, the chieftain's daughter. Are you hurt, sir?"

"Thanks to you, I am unscathed. You have my gratitude." He spoke more slowly than someone with little patience (me) could take without getting annoyed. I opened my eyes to look up and stare at the wall. However, I decided that I should probably pay attention after a couple of seconds, looking on at the scene instead.

"And the sword? Is it safe?" she questioned, handing the sheathed Mani Katti to the priest. He closed his eyes for a moment, holding it.

"Yes. I have sealed the sword safely away. Until I remove my spell, the sword cannot be drawn." That made sense... The leader in the last battle didn't use the Katti because he couldn't unsheathe it. I grinned to myself. Nice move, old man. "Now, as a token of my gratitude, I shall allow you to lay hands upon the Mani Katti. Touch the blade's pattern, and pray for a safe journey."

Lyn looked shocked. Perhaps that was why it took her a short moment to respond. "Oh, thank you so much!" she nearly shouted. In that moment, she was happy. It was one of the few times I ever saw where it looked like her smile would break her jaw.

But as she stepped forward and laid even one finger on the sword, a flash of light came. Lyn backed away as if flinching after being burned. The priest mumbled something to himself, looking somewhere between surprised and confused.

"What? Did-" Lyn began to speak, but cut herself off when another light came, this one longer. I had to shield my eyes, looking down and covering them with my arm, to not feel like I was going blind. It dimmed after a moment until all that was left was a small aura residing around the sword. "The sword... It's... glowing."

"Ah. Hm... It's the power of the spirits," said the priest mysteriously. "Lyn, they have looked into your soul, and they call out to you."

"What does that mean?" Lyn sounded like a small child, asking something like that.

"You are its rightful owner. You are to wield the Mani Katti."

Everyone except the priest was silenced in shock. Even I, who was only beginning to learn of the sword's importance, was taken aback by his statement. Some dead people wanted Lyn to fight with a glowing sword?

Lyn finally brought herself to say something. "No... I can't... I couldn't..."

"It is the sword's wish," the priest argued calmly. "If you require proof, draw it from its sheath."

"Um..." Lyn hesitated. She held onto the blade's handle, as if trying to decide whether or not she should _really_ unsheath the sword. She began to pull, and the blade slid out of the thin sheath, and it made a _shink_ noise as it came out. Lyn stood holding the blade with both hands, staring down at it with her jaw open. "It came out... effortlessly."

The priest only smiled. "I never dared to hope that I might meet the wielder of the Mani Katti in my life. I am indeed fortunate to see your sword reach your hands."

"My sword?" Lyn spoke as if what she was saying was wrong. But seeing her there, holding the Mani Katti in all its radiance, I knew. I knew that she was indeed a powerful person. I knew that I had made a good choice in befriending her. I knew that she couldn't lose. I knew... that she was more powerful than I could imagine. Her power just needed to be unlocked.

"It is time for you to go, Lyn. You face a great many ordeals. Grip this sword, and meet your destiny head-on," said the priest suddenly. Lyn looked up to him, still shocked but trying to smile politely.

"Yes... Yes, sir!" she agreed, bowing. Then she turned excitedly to Kent and Sain, showing the sword off to them. Knowing she would probably want to show me, too, I left my comfortably secluded spot by the wall to rejoin them. She showed me the sword very briefly before sheathing it, and then tying the sheath around her waist.

Then began to exit the temple, but I lagged behind.

"Lyn, I... I need a moment," I mumbled, my normal quiet voice returning to me now that everything had settled down. Lyn smiled sweetly.

"Sure. We'll be outside." With that, I turned away from them and to the priest. He was bent over by the throne, looking at something. I slowly approached him, and he seemed to notice my presence before I had even reached him. He turned to me and waited for me to speak with a kind and understanding smile.

"...I... sir..." I began hesitantly. I struggled to find the right words. He waited for me to continue. I took a small breath in and out before continuing. "I'm sorry about the damage to your altar. It was my fault."

He seemed surprised. "Oho. I see. And you... are you with Lyn?"

"...Yes. I'm their tactician." He smiled very suddenly.

"Ah. So it was necessary for your battle. I see. Do not worry, milady... it is more important that you protected the sword. Do not worry. We have plenty of people who would be willing to volunteer to repair the wall."

I still felt bad. Now that the adrenaline was gone and I was back to being my usual self, I was far more critical of my actions. Breaking the wall was probably unnecessary. Laughing at the man that Lyndis struck down? Unacceptable. I should know better than to be so cruel. Death just wasn't funny. But I shook my head; what has passed, has passed. I had no ability to change past events; all I could do was try to improve in the future.

"I noticed a few of you were wounded in battle." The priest speaking to me startled me out of my thoughts and made me look up at him suddenly. He was pulling something out of a pocket. "Here. This is a small thanks. You said that you are the tactician? Then perhaps you will know best how to use these." He handed me a few vulneraries.

I was quite surprised. I didn't expect any gifts. As much as I would have loved to turn it down, there was no telling when we would get more of these next, and we even needed them currently. So I simply bowed my head, "Thank you."***2**

He turned around to mess with something on the throne-chair-thing behind him. I waited for him to say goodbye or something, but when he didn't, I turned around. I felt like I needed to say or do something, but I just didn't know what... Ignoring that, I exited without another word.

I gave the vulnerary I had picked up off of the fallen mercenary to Lyndis. She simply replied with a surprised, "Oh. Thanks." The vulneraries that the priest gave to me, I decided to keep. They would be for healing outside of battle.

On that note, I gave one to Lyn and Sain so they could heal their wounds. They seemed to be feeling much better after that, lively and whole again. I returned what remained of the vulnerary to my satchel, and before long, we were leaving for Caelin.***3**

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><p>The boys were by the fire, eating and talking and laughing. Well, Sain was doing most of the talking and laughing. Kent mostly sat and listened and nodded. Lyndis was busy sharpening her swords- one of them being her regular crappy iron sword, and the other... the Mani Katti. I, on the other hand, was trying to remember my studies.<p>

I made a list in the dirt by writing with a stick. I remembered most of the battle strategies I ever learned, aside from their names. I was busy trying to match the Eight Legendary Heroes to their weapons and the lands that they had founded. Kent bringing up Elimine earlier made me wonder if I remembered or not.

Matching the heroes to their lands was easy. Roland was to Lycia, my home nation. Hanon was to Sacae, as Lyndis had mentioned earlier. Elimine was to Etruria, the nation of magic-users... my personal favorite. Hartmut was to Bern, Durban was to the Western Isles, Athos to Nabata, Barigan to Ilia, and Bramimond (in a way) to Valor Isle.

Their weapons were harder. I had been more focused on learning the aftereffects of the war than what weapon they had used. I was aware that the use of magical weapons was key to the victory of the Eight Legends, but I was always so bad with names...

Now, let's see. Roland wielded the blade Durandal. Elimine had the light tome Aureola, Athos held the fiery vortex known as Forblaze, and Bramimond possessed the dark magic Apocalypse. I naturally remembered the names of the magic tomes well, since I had always dreamed of becoming a mage (just a dream, mind you). After those four, I was at a bit of a loss.

"What are you doing?" Lyn interrupted just in time.

Without looking up, I replied, "Making a list." She hesitated a moment, probably trying to decide whether she should bug me or not. Apparently she came to the answer yes, for she scooted closer to me.

"A list of what?"

"...Kent... talking about Elimine earlier... He reminded me that it has been awhile since I have thought about my studies back in Lycia. I was trying to remember some things about the Legendary Heroes."

She looked like she was struggling to hear my mumbling. I thought this was funny; I would have thought she would be used to it by then. Well, whatever. She looked thoughtful for a moment, staring at my list.

"Can I help?"

"...If you want."

"Alright. Well, Hanon had the Gale Bow, Miurgre." Of course she would know that one. I wrote the name 'Miurgre' down next to Hanon's name. "Barigan had the Ice Lance, Malte. Durban was, um... an axe... Arms?"

"Armads," I corrected, writing it down. Her saying that had helped me remember.

"Oh yes! Now, the last one... Hartmut. Let's see... it was a sword, right?"

"I think so."

"...Um... Eggs... Exacts... Ex..." She struggled to think of the name of the sword, blurting out whatever random words or sounds came to mind.

"Exacts?" I asked. It sounded close but not quite right. But then her face lit up.

"Exaccus!" she declared, pointing up to the sky as she said it. I wrote the name out just for the heck of it, and then stared down at the list.

"Yes! We did it!" I shouted, almost to the volume that normal people spoke at. Lyn giggled wildly, apparently very excited that we had remembered them all. She smiled over at me.

"Thanks for letting me help." I blinked. It didn't seem like a big deal to me, but apparently it meant something to her. I wiped the writing away with my hand, returning the dirt to how it had been before I had messed with it.

So I said, "You're welcome." She continued to smile at me. I argued with myself as to whether or not I should say more, and eventually made myself spit out the words. "Can... Can I say something?"

"You can say whatever you want."

"...I'm... surprised. ...That you're so knowledgeable, I mean." She looked surprised, but then laughed.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you. ...Can I say something, too?" I just looked at her, a silent 'go ahead'. "I like talking with you... even though I usually do most of the talking, I guess." She giggled sweetly. "You're nice."

I had to admit, I was somewhat shocked that she had said such a thing. I felt bad- I wasn't actually that nice... I thought a lot of mean things. It was just that I never said anything, so she didn't know how I really was. But I couldn't tell her that... she was my only real friend. If we were even friends...

"Thank you," I muttered. I couldn't think of anything better to say. She scooted a little closer to me.

"If you ever feel like talking, I'm here, you know." She wanted to know something. I didn't have to guess for long, because she came right out and said it. "I am curious about, um... your past. Where you came from." Ah. I guessed it would only be natural for her to wonder what had happened to me. "I don't want to make you tell me or anything. But if you ever feel like telling me..."

"Before we part ways," I agreed. "I'll tell you about it before we part ways."

She half-smiled and half-grinned. "I'm going to hold you to that, then."

I could only give her a small smile in return. "It's a promise."

* * *

><p>My apologies... this wasn't as long as I had hoped it would be. Buuut hopefully next chapter will be longer. With new characters comes new opportunities.<br>How was the battle? Too short? Please let me know. And on that note... I love reviews. Please review. :D

*1 = Skipped/changed some dialogue because I did not feel like visiting houses.  
>*2= I had to think of something to explain the fact that characters heal between chapters. Wounds don't magically heal themselves, you know. So there.<br>*3= Yes, I skipped more dialogue. Mostly because I can. Marisa just missed it.


	5. Chapter Three: Band of Mercenaries

Story: Lyn, Hard Mode.

Tactician Data-  
>Name: Marisa.<br>Birth Month: September. (Affinity: Fire.)  
>Gender: Female.<p>

Notes: My friend's charger has also gone MIA, so I'm going to have to lend her mine from time to time. Just a warning, so that everyone knows why some updates will take longer than others. Sorry this chapter isn't extremely long either... I don't expect them to even break 10k til we get to Hector's story.

Respondation. (Yes, I just now invented that word.)

_ExposedWiresExposedVeins:_ Thanks for all the corrections again. Corrections/edits to the chapter have been made. It means a lot that you're taking the time to really read my stuff and help me improve.  
>I'm also happy to see that you're enjoying the Marisa humor. I have struggled in my last couple original books to keep the humor going so I'm glad to see I've still got it. I'm so glad you are enjoying and I thank you for your praise. ^^ I hope that it will only improve. I'm simply dying to get to Hector's story because everything gets so much better. The plot picks up a lot and there is some pretty funny stuff with Hector and Marisa, heh...<br>P.S. I have never played FE6 either, but I randomly decided to look that stuff up and throw it in. Glad you enjoyed. Please enjoy the next chapter as well!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fire Emblem. Isn't that amazing? I am among the millions (probably billions) of people who do not own Fire Emblem... When you meet someone who DOES own Fire Emblem, take me to meet them. Cause that would be cool.

Chapter Three-  
>Objective: Defeat enemy.<br>Enemies: 9.  
>Unitscharacters: Marisa, Lyn, Kent, Sain, Florina.  
>Unitscharacters obtained: Wil.

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Three: Band of Mercenaries<strong>_

Ten days. Ten, excuse my language, long-ass days had passed since Kent and Sain had first convinced Lyn to leave. I was used to traveling, but I was used to traveling alone. Being with people made the trip seem _so_ much longer.

At least we were heading west now, to our real destination. Caelin... just another ruling house in Lycia. Caelin was fairly close to where my home had been. My house was out in the country, between Khathelet and Araphen. We usually stayed away from big cities, but I remembered passing through Caelin once or twice along my travels. It was like Sacae in a way, but with more forests, hilly areas and cities. Lyn would learn to feel right at home after a little while, I was sure of it.

For now, we were stuck in a mountainous region between Sacae and Bern. We would have to pass through the northwest corner of Bern to get to Lycia. I was surprised how close to the border we were when I finally realized it.

We were just moving over the mountains when we came across a flat area. There were a couple small villages nearby, surrounded with cleverly-placed walls. But the one nearest to us... was no longer inhabited.

It was no more than rubble, piles of stone and brick. Some walls still stood, but most of the village looked as if it had been eaten by some kind of beast.

Lyndis took a few hesitant steps into the ruins. Kent and Sain seemed to linger behind in silence; we could all tell that seeing this would probably upset her. It had to be the work of bandits... perhaps the ones who killed her parents and her tribe...

Lyn's fingers lingered on the wall of a destroyed building. "This place... It's..."

"The entire area is in ruins. Why doesn't their marquess do anything to help?" Sain chimed in angrily. Lyn closed her eyes to shake her head, and then opened them again when she spoke.

"Taliver Mountain is home to a gang of vicious, ruthless bandits." Her eyes flittered away to look at the ruins again. "No marquess holds power here." She closed her eyes again. "My village was near here, on the other side of the mountain. My people were... The Taliver bandits came at night. It took only one night."

Reminded me of a different night that I knew of. "The survivors numbered less than ten, including me." Lyn very suddenly got a serious look on her face, straightening up. "They're soulless beasts. I will never forgive them. Never." I looked away. It was sad how much like her I felt... There was one big difference, though. She knew who murdered her family.

Sain looked sad for her. "Lyndis..." Kent had the same look, but kept silent.

"I am not running away. I will be back... someday. I'll be stronger... I will break their swords beneath me like twigs beneath a stallion's hooves. I will avenge my people. I'll do everything in my power." She spoke with a determination that I greatly admired.

"When the time comes, bring me with you."

"Sain." Lyn seemed a bit surprised that he had offered, but did not refuse.

"Don't forget me, either," Kent added.

"Kent..."

"...I hope you won't leave me behind, either. I'll want to see that when the time comes."

"Oh! You, too, Marisa?" She smiled. I didn't expect that sort of reaction, but she was... truly happy. Her smile was so peaceful, too. "I... You're... Thank you."

I would have smiled back if I wasn't distracted by a distant yelling. The others seemed to ignore my strange look and continue on. I stood still a moment, trying to make out what was being said or even where it was coming from.

"Lyn," I mumbled. She, thankfully, had heard it and stopped walking. She looked at me and paid more attention because she saw that the strange look on my face had remained there. She waited for me to speak. "...S...something... is happening." I pointed ahead of me. "Over there."

Kent and Sain had ridden ahead and were headed in the direction of the shouting. We jogged to catch up with them, but they stopped before long. They had spotted the scene.

"What's this?" Kent mumbled to himself. Then he spoke up, "Be on your guard, Lyndis. There seems to be some sort of commotion over there."

Lyn shoved her way through us and to the front of our group. Her eyes seemed to widen when she saw what was happening.

"That's... That's a pegasus. Could it be?" Lyn, without taking any time to explain, rushed ahead of us. We followed suit, catching up soon enough. She walked up to the three people in front of us without hesitation. "Florina? Is that you, Florina?"

There was indeed a girl with a pegasus standing behind two men. She peered over their shoulders to see Lyn.

"Ah! Lyn?" This girl, Florina, was pretty. She looked quite young, perhaps somewhere around Lyndis's age. Her hair was a pale purple color, and it complimented her fine, snow-colored skin well.

"Florina! What are you doing in a place such as this?"

"Lyn!" Florina tried to take a small step closer. "Is it really you? I... I..." Florina's eyes began to well up with tears. But aside from that... I seemed to be the only one paying attention to the entire scene. The men that were near Florina were clearly not with her, and were clearly not happy. They shot each other looks reading, "What the hell? Are we invisible back here?"

"Come now, no crying!" Lyn insisted. Florina sniffled.

"I'm sorry." She tried to collect herself. Meanwhile, Kent was getting impatient with not knowing what was going on and decided to step up to Lyn's side.

"You are acquaintances?" he inquired. Florina, on the other side of Lyn, was freaking out. She looked like she might hyperventilate at any moment and was trying to keep a straight face (though failing).

"She's my friend. This is Florina, a pegasus knight in training from Ilia. She's a little uncomfortable around men." Kent got the hint and backed away a few steps. Lyn faced Florina again, "Tell me, Florina, what happened here?"

"Well... um... When I heard that you had left... I decided to follow you." She spoke with more hesitance in her words than I have ever heard before. "Then I saw this village..." She motioned to the small village behind her. "I flew down to ask if they had news of you. I didn't see the two, and... well..."

Lyn gave her a stern look. "Did your pegasus land on them?" Noticing the two men that had been with Florina, who had been silent up until this point, becoming ever more infuriated, I backed away a few steps in fear.

"Well, I... A little..."

"Aha! You heard her!" one shouted obnoxiously, running up behind Florina and terrifying her. She jumped from being startled, and then retreated to behind Lyndis. She hid behind Lyn, who stood in front of her protectively. "She admits her fault! She stepped on my friend, and now she's got to pay!" Lyn glanced to Florina.

"Did you apologize, Florina?"

"Yes. I told them I was sorry many times over. They just wouldn't listen..." She looked like she was going to cry again. I, meanwhile, was terrified, and was concealing myself behind the men. I didn't like the feeling I had. It was like... something bad was coming. These men looked relentless, and if they were anything like the bandits Lyn had described...

"Don't cry. It's alright." Lyn seemed calm enough, though.

"Lyn..."

"Listen, she's obviously sorry. Can't we just let this pass?" Lyn tried to reason logically. She paused, looking the two over briefly. "You don't appear to be injured or anything."

The second man stepped up to the first's side and growled. "No chance. The girl goes with us- by force if need be!" Ha, he had no idea who he was threatening, did he? Lyn held her arm out in front of Florina protectively. The men grinned at each other, and then backed up. "Hey! C'mon out now, boys! The men are fair game, but don't put a scratch on the girls!"

We'd see how long that order held up when Lyn started ripping them apart.

Much to my surprise, several men stepped out of hiding. These people were obviously bandits of some kind, if there were so many armed people near small villages in the middle of the mountains.

Lyn turned to me quickly. "Marisa! We've got to fight back!" As if I would let them whack the men to death and then kidnap us to sell us to some rich snob.

"Lyn... I..." Florina was near tears. Still.

"You're a pegasus knight, aren't you? You can fight, can't you?"

"...Yes!" Although she still seemed hesitant, she spoke with newfound confidence. I almost grinned- now things were starting to get interesting. I knew a bit about pegasus knights; they were only trained in Ilia, and they soared around the skies with their lances, attacking swiftly. That would be helpful... I saw many walls, albeit short, and the nearby mountains would prove difficult (if not impossible) to travel over. I wondered if Florina could pull herself together for so long, though. We would see. Lyn turned back to me again.

"Listen carefully, Marisa. We're facing bandits. They're underlings, but we can't take them too lightly. Let's clear them out of here. Are you ready?"

I shot her a small grin, "Are you?" She smiled. She pulled me behind her, preparing to protect me.

"The layout around here might make it difficult to fight. The same holds true for our foe, too. If we use these walls just so, they may ensure our victory."

"Don't worry, I'm way ahead of you." I continued to stare at the walls and peer over it to the enemies on the other side. Hm... a sword-user... Oh, but there was an archer nearby...

"Lyn... Who's that?" asked Florina, stepping nervously toward me. Lyn smiled sweetly.

"This is Marisa. She's still an apprentice, but she's my tactician."

I would have preferred something more along the lines of "highly underestimated, clever and cunning master of war," but I supposed that would have to do.

"Oh, I see... Well, Marisa... I'm pleased to meet you."

I tried my best to smile for her. "Nice to meet you, too. ...Are you ready, Florina? You're going to have a pretty big job in this battle."

She nodded vigorously. "Yes!" She seemed set on proving herself. She had a lot of people to impress.

"Good. I want you to fly north," I pointed over the wall. "There is a swordsman over the wall. But try not to stay too close to the wall. I don't want any archers sneaking up on you." She nodded, mounted her pegasus and then took flight. I smiled just a bit at the sight of a real pegasus, but tried to focus.

"You said these are bandits. That means they're going to take out these villages if they get the chance. We have to warn the people inside so they can lock up their houses. Lyn... go inform that village." I pointed to the one that was only thirty or so feet away. She nodded, and then headed for it.

"Boys... you are getting some action this time." Sain looked excited, nearly bouncing up and down on his horse. Kent looked pleased, but tried to keep a straight face. "Hm... Kent. See that archer? Do me a favor and stab him in the neck... I don't want him shooting that pretty pegasus out of the sky."

He ignored the morbid nature of my order and rode toward him. The archer didn't even see Kent coming until it was too late. Two quick and graceful attacks with his lance, and Kent had slain the poor unsuspecting fool. Sain rode to my side, and they stood at ready.

I looked back to see if Lyndis was finished yet. She was indeed, and was heading toward me... with someone at her side. A young boy, with the same color of hair and eyes- chocolate brown. I wondered what he wanted.

"Marisa, this is Wil. He's offered to fight with us!" Lyn announced. I was surprised- it wasn't often people offered to fight. He might as well have said, "Death party? Cool! Got room for one more?" But I didn't have time to question his intentions. I needed all the help I could get.

"Fine. Wil, was it? What can you do?"

"I'm trained with bows! Just put me out there and I'll show you what I can do!"

"Yes, yes. Alright. ...Everyone wait here." I ran back to the area near the village. "Florina! Can you hear me? How is it going?"

"I... I... He's dead. B-but I got hit."

"How bad it is?"

"...I... not very, but... it... ow, hurts!"

"I need you to be strong and ignore it unless it's going to affect your fighting. Now listen, I need you to look around for any villages you can see. How many are there?"

"...Um... Just one... right here."

"Please warn the village that there are bandits and I will be right back." With that, I was off. I had no idea how she was actually faring, so I had to take her word for it. I ran back to Lyn's side, winded from a pathetic distance but trying not to show it.

"Okay, what's the status over here? ...Axe monkeys. Lyn, in front, please. Wil, you're an archer, right? Follow behind her." They did as I commanded, rushing forward to meet the coming enemies. Since one was rather close now, I ordered for Lyn to engage him. Their battle was short, and he was hit down with two hits, but Lyn had taken a small injury as well.

"Lyn, try to suck that one up. Um, keep fighting if there are any axe users. Wil, help her out as they come. If there are any swordsmen, um... Sain. You get to fight. I'll be right back."

I hate, hate, hate, hate, hated running.

"Florina! Can you hear me? How is it going over there?"

"I... think it's... ow... all clear."

"...Come to me, then, please." Doing as I ordered, she flew over the wall and back into view. She had taken a pretty bad hit to her side, and was currently clutching it with one arm. I winced. "Okay. I need you to just tough it out for a little bit longer, okay?"

She nodded, looking like she was in a fairly great amount of pain. She looked too frail to be fighting anyway, but she was such a small girl...

"Can you please give me a ride back to the others?"

"...Oh... yes..." I hopped behind her and onto the pegasus. I felt butterflies in my stomach. Just pretend it's a regular horse, I told myself. It did not leave the ground, simply galloping like a regular horse would to where the others were located, between three sections of the wall.

Lyndis was just dodging an arrow whizzing, sidestepping and then standing where she had been.

"Lyn, cut him down!" She ran forward at the sound of my voice, slicing twice to bring the helpless bowman down. Behind his was a swordsman, preparing to charge and attack while she was defenseless. "Sain! Get up there and help!"

He did as I said, and with pleasure, it appeared. He did get to save the lady Lyndis, after all. While those two battled it out, I glanced around at the remaining men. Another swordsman... He was kind of far away. I would leave him to Florina. An axeman waiting on the other side of the wall like a sitting duck. He was practically screaming, "Stick me in the eye with an arrow." And after that... only their leader...

I took a deep breath. "Wil, attack that bandit over the wall. Florina, get ready to move out. See that mercenary over there? I want you to fight him after the man that Sain is battling with goes down." She nodded, readying herself.

Sain defeated his foe without even taking any damage. Wil did likewise; the confused bandit didn't even have a chance to run before he was dead. With that, I nodded to Florina, and she took flight, going off to fight.

I watched with pride as she struck down her opponent without being hit. I would have thought she would have slipped up and gotten sliced again, especially with that wound to distract her.

I ran to her. "Good job, Florina. You're done here. Drink this." I handed her one of the vulneraries from my satchel and she downed it gratefully. When she was finished, she turned to me excitedly.

"I, um, I went to that village like you asked me. The lady... she gave me this..." Florina handed me a bag. I hastily snatched it from her and peeked inside. My jaw nearly dropped when I saw gold... a lot of it, too.

"Wow... How much is in here?"

"She said... 2,000 gold." Florina sounded as surprised as I was.

"Wow! This is amazing! We can get new weapons and everything! Ha!" I was almost jumping for joy. Now we could buy weapons and eat and everything. Heck, there was even a small armory just south of where I was standing! "Okay. Okay. Um... I want you to buy... a sword, and a lance. Use whatever of this you need and then come find us."

"Okay!" She seemed peppy now that she wasn't bleeding. She took the gold and flew off southward, to the armory. I turned back to my small troop.

"Just their boss now. Axe user. Guess who gets to take him?"

"I'm guessing that's me," said Lyn, stepping forward.

"That's right. Wil, follow close behind her and see if you can do some damage as well."

"Got it!" It wasn't long before they were walking to him. I wouldn't have guessed Lyndis was injured if I didn't know; she walked as if nothing was wrong, and she wasn't bleeding extremely badly.

The ugly man growled when he saw us coming. "Draw your swords! We ain't listening to any stinking apologies!"

"Hey, listen!" Lyndis shouted in protest. He paused, actually listening. He wore an ugly scowl and looked displeased. But I didn't have much time to stare at his ugly mug, for I was busy climbing to the top of a pile of rubble in the destroyed village.

"Begging for your life so soon, wench?"

Lyn ignored his comment. "Are you... Taliver bandits?"

"Taliver?" asked the bandit in disgust. He looked appalled that she had asked such a thing. "Those greedy monsters? We're nothing like them! Those fiends will even kill women and children! We're from Ganelon, and we know a little something of honor. We don't harm women, for one thing."

Which explained why Lyn was bleeding? Mmmmmhm...

"Heh heh heh. After all, why kill what you can sell?" I felt sick to my stomach at his comment. I just couldn't imagine... But I shook my head. I reached the top, standing high above everyone else and watching closely for what would happen next.

"If you're not Taliver, then there's no reason for you to die here today. If you would like to tuck your tails and flee, do so now." Lyn looked so headstrong, speaking like that to a man so much bigger than she. But her comment seemed to _really _piss him off.

"You... you..." He was fuming, and cried out in frustration. "No more courtesies! You're going to learn to watch your tongue!"

He started to charge her, but was stopped when Wil fired an arrow, which lodged itself into the bandit's shoulder. While he stumbled backwards, Lyndis ran to him and stabbed him in the stomach, afterward slicing his chest open.

Wow. That was quick.

"Ugh... You'll live to regret this..." he grumbled as he tried to hold his wounds, dropping his weapon. He stumbled backwards a few more steps. "My brothers... The Ganelon bandits will not let this stand..." He was cut off when his breathing ceased and he fell, staring eternally at the cloudy Sacae sky.

Well, thank goodness that was over. I stumbled down the pile of rubble until I reached the ground. Lyn and Wil were coming to meet me, as were Florina, Kent and Sain.

"That's finally taken care of," said Lyn, sounding relieved. I quickly pulled another vulnerary from my satchel, this only being the second vial opened. She gulped down a small portion of it, and her skin patched itself together in no time. She looked so much more relieved after her wound was gone. She handed the vulnerary back to me, after which I stuck it back in my satchel.

"Lyn!" shouted Florina excitedly.

"Florina... Why did you follow me? It's so dangerous." Lyn sounded so worried. I knew she and Florina must have been close friends, but I didn't really know many of the details at that time.

"Do you remember the knighting ceremony of the Pegasus Knights of Ilia?"

"Yes, you joined a band of freelance soldiers to further your training." Lyn paused, trying to think why that would be relevant. "Is that what brought you here, Florina?"

"Uh-huh." Florina nodded. "I wanted to talk to you before I set out." She paused, seeming to be thinking. "But when I went to Sacae, I heard that you had left with some strangers, and..."

"You were worried for me? Thank you, but I'm more worried about you." Probably rightfully so. Florina seemed so jumpy.

"Me?" Florina acted surprised.

"Listen, most mercenaries are men, right? Bands of men? I can't imagine you being at all comfortable around them." So Florina and I had something in common- we didn't like being around men over the age of fourteen or so that we didn't know. Cool.

"I know, I know. It's just... I've always dreamt of being a pegasus knight." The twinkle in her eyes further proved that statement. "I imagined I would just... work it out. Somehow." She looked around at all the dead bodies. "After today, I'm not so sure."

I wasn't a fighter myself, but just seeing the fighting was bad enough. I was still trying to get over holding back my gag reflex when blood decided to spew everywhere. I couldn't imagine being someone who _caused_ the bloodshed...

"Maybe I should just... give up..." Florina sniffled a few times, wiping one eye cutely with her hand, as a small child would.

"Florina... Don't cry..." Lyn looked sad for Florina. It was so obvious that Florina wanted to become a pegasus knight for whatever reason. But she was probably right... Florina wasn't made for fighting. Though she had toughed out having that injury pretty well, she just seemed so frail...

"Yes! There's no reason to give up your dream!" shouted Sain, jumping back into poetic-love-failure mode. Sain was already dismounted and ran to Florina. "Lovely Florina! I have the most brilliant idea!"

Not that she would be paying attention to him telling her what it was over her freaking out. The closer he got, the farther away she wanted to back up. Her eyes were wide, and she was glancing around for somewhere to hide.

"Sain!" scolded Kent. He could see that Florina was obviously frightened, or startled, or something. But Sain ignored his partner.

"You should come with us! With the addition of Wil here, we're a fine group of soldiers, and freelance to boot!"

"Wait, did you just include me?" asked Wil to no one in particular. He glanced to Sain as if Sain would provide him with some kind of explanation.

"Of course! We were destined to meet here! It's fate! Come now, Lyndis's band of mercenaries is as good a training group as you will find anywhere!"

"Sain... This is no joking matter!" Kent protested. And he was right- we weren't mercenaries, we were a couple of fools on a suicide mission.

"Lyndis? Um, Lyn? Mercenaries?" Florina seemed hesitant, almost afraid of the word.

"I can give you details later. This is all a bit rushed." No kidding. "However, Sain is right. Will you come with us Florina?"

Sain was right?

"Travel with you, Lyn? Truly? I would be so... so happy!" A smile swept across Florina's face. I sighed mentally; although the extra troops would be very helpful, I didn't need anyone else to annoy me.

"Fantastic! Beauteous Florina!" See, Sain already had that covered. "I am a knight of Caelin. My name is Sain..." He ran forward suddenly, reaching out to grab her hand.

"Eeek!" she screeched, jumping backwards. "Stay back! Don't get so close," she said defensively. She backed up in a circle, trying to hide behind Lyn.

"Ah... Beautiful, and yet so modest!" called Sain poetically, continuing to chase Florina in circles around us. Meanwhile, Wil was laughing in the background, apparently amused by the whole situation.

"I beg your forgiveness." Kent spoke very suddenly. "Calling us mercenaries..."

"No, I approve." But why, Lyn... why. "We can't leave Florina on her own. She requires special attention, though. Can I count on you?"

"Yes!" Kent perked up, answering dutifully. "You have but to ask."

"So..." Wil cut in very suddenly. "Is it really alright if I travel with you?"

"Oh, yes. Of course! If you're willing, Wil."

"Actually, I'm very grateful. Truth be told, all of my money was stolen, and I'm... at a bit of a crossroads." He shrugged. "I would be honored to count myself one of Lyndis's Legion!"

"Ahhh! Please, stop it!" gasped Florina, hugging onto Lyn from behind. Sain stopped in front of Lyn and laughed, apparently amused because she was distressed. Wil's attention was then redirected to those two, and he began to laugh as well. Lyn giggled just slightly, apparently also amused. But I agreed with Kent (hey, first time for everything!), who had slapped his hand to his face.

"'Lyndis's Legion'?" she asked out loud, turning to me. "This is getting stranger with every day, Marisa."

I half "hmph"ed and half chuckled. She was right. This did keep getting weirder and weirder. You'd think we were a bunch of drunken fools running around the countryside. This... was going to take me awhile to get used to.

* * *

><p>Of course Florina's pegasus was pathetic and couldn't stand carrying more than Florina's weight for very long. Which meant, of course, those of us without mounts had to walk now. Walking? Up there on the hate list. Somewhere near running. And besides that, it would take so much longer to get where we were going.<p>

Apparently me walking alone, minding my own business and keeping to my own thoughts, was an invitation for any old fool to come up and start a conversation. Or so thought Wil, because he didn't seem to have an issue with walking right up and talking to me. "Hello!" he said cheerily, marching up to my side with a smile. I only offered him a sideways glance, wondering if I felt like being friendly or not.

"...Hello," I muttered back half-heartedly.

"Why are we whispering?" he asked me playfully in a whisper. It annoyed me a little bit, but I tried to ignore the feeling.

"I'm not whispering. This is my voice."

"My foot!" he shouted in disbelief. "I heard you yelling in the battle today. I know you can talk louder. Come on, it's okay."

"...No... I really can't. This is my normal speaking volume."

"Well, maybe if you worked on talking louder, your voice would change!"

"Why would I want to walk around yelling all the time?"

"'Cause I can barely hear you. It really does sound like you're whispering! And it sounds more raspy and stuff when you talk so quiet. It makes you sound like you're sick."

"Raspier," I corrected. "...And I am sick." He looked startled.

"Oh. I'm sorry. What do you have?"

"I'm not... sick with a virus or an infection. I'm just sick." I looked away.

"...Oh. Well, why?"

"I don't know, I just am!" I shouted with slight frustration. "I've always been sick, ever since I was little. Sick all the time. Sick, sick, sick. I'm just used to it. I can't eat very often and I have trouble sleeping and I throw up about once a week. Joyous, right? I haven't exactly talked to anyone in a while, either, so my voice box is kind of dusty. So yes, this is really how I talk!"

Silence for a few minutes.

"See, you almost got to a normal-person volume there."

I sighed in annoyance. "You're not even listening, are you?"

"I-I am listening! I just didn't think it was a very positive topic, so I left it alone... It seems like you were mad." Mad. I made myself take a deep breath. Don't get annoyed, Marisa. Just let him talk. You're stuck with these people for a long time...

"...I'm not angry."

"Oh. Good! ...So, Lyndis said you're the tactician, right?"

"...Yes."

"That's cool. So you kind of stand around and tell people to do stuff?"

"It's not as easy as it sounds."

"No no, I believe you! I just was wondering if you had any other cool powers or anything."

"...Like what, pray tell?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're psychic or something! Or maybe you're secretly a fighter and you're just holding all of your power back," he said in a dramatic narrator voice. I chuckled a little.

"Um, no. I just give orders."

"You're sure you're not a fighter or a mage or something?"

"...I am positive, Wil."

"Darn. Well, that's still cool!"

"So what, are you secretly a fighter or something?"

"Huh? Haha! Nooooo. I just shoot my bow, that's all."

"...Is it hard?"

"Is what hard?"

"Shooting a bow." I fought back the urge to tack on the word 'stupid' at the end. I had to practice being nice out loud all the time before I could practice with my thoughts.

"Oh. Uhm, at first. It takes a lot of practice to be able to shoot at moving targets, but... I'm kind of used to it. So no, it's not so hard for me anymore. ...Not that I'm saying it's easy or anything! It's challenging. You have to be really focused at all times and concentrate on your target."

"I see..." _Creative response, Marisa. Try to show some interest, why don't you? _I scolded myself. "...So... You've been practicing for a long time?"

"Oh. Well... on and off. I never really thought I would be fighting like this, but... hey, no complaints! At least I have finally found a use for it besides hunting!"

"...I see..." I wasn't so good at this whole making conversation thing, was I?

"What about you?"

"...What about me?"

"Have you been practicing your whole tactician thing for a while?"

"Oh... Well... It's not really something you can 'practice' unless there's a war going on. So... not really."

"...Well, there haven't been any major wars in years. How'd you even learn? And why? Have you always wanted to boss people around in fights?"

"...It's kind of a personal story. I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, fair." I was thankful that he had let that one go. "...Well, um, it looks like we're stopping to make camp. So I guess we can talk later! Okay?"

I only nodded. He waited for a verbal response, but when it didn't come, he left me to myself again. He was apparently excited to help set us up and whatnot. He ran up to the knights excitedly, who had been discussing whether or not to use the abandoned fort just ahead for shelter. Better than the ground, or that was my opinion, at least.

"Ah, this should suffice! Tonight's bed!" called Wil.

"This mildewy old fortress? Is this the best we can do?" Sain questioned aloud; that was probably what he and Kent had been discussing. "Come, Wil! Surely you jest!" Perhaps Sain was referring to the readiness with which Wil chose our shelter.

"The bandits keep everything in turmoil around here. No one has time to worry about travelers." Wil was probably right. And again, this would be better than the ground. "And there are a rather lot of us," he pointed out.

"This will be fine," Lyndis agreed. "Who wants to be stuck inside, anyway? I prefer a place where I can feel the wind blow." She sounded a little homesick, but it was barely noticeable, and everyone else seemed to miss it.

"As long as I'm at Lyn's side, I'll be fine," Florina piped up in agreement.

"And for your protection, your man-at-arms Sain will be right here by your side, ladies," Sain assured in a flirty voice. Florina looked frightened again and began to back away, which only made Sain grin. Lyn offered a small smile before leading her friend away.

"Sain," came Kent's voice from behind, "Both you are I are to remain awake. We will alternate the watch."

"Ah, alas..." was the only response Sain offered. He didn't seem too pleased about staying awake half the night, but it was part of his job. Moving inside, we had no idea what we would be in for, what would emerge from the shadows before too long...

* * *

><p>That's a wrap. Well... not as exciting as I wanted. But I personally thought the conversation with Wil was kind of entertaining...<p>

But I want to know what YOU think! :D Please review! I love you!

-Written while bleeding? Yes. Better go clean that up. See you next time.


	6. Chapter Four: In Occupation's Shadow

Story: Lyn, Hard Mode.

Tactician Data-  
>Name: Marisa.<br>Birth Month: September. (Affinity: Fire.)  
>Gender: Female.<p>

Notes: My friend's charger has also gone MIA, so I'm going to have to lend her mine from time to time. Just a warning, so that everyone knows why some updates will take longer than others. Sorry this chapter isn't extremely long either... I don't expect them to be over 10k til we get to Hector's story.  
>For those of you wondering, no, Marisa is not my real name (I just wish it was). But my birthday really is in September, and I really am a girl. ;)<br>P.S. I am thinking out how many chapters I will have, including prologues and stuff that happens between Lyn and Hector's story, etc, and it's coming to about 44 or 45.

Respondation.

_ExposedWiresExposedVeins:_ Thanks for corrections again. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Funny thing is, that conversation also made me think of Wil and Raven supports XD I really do like Wil as a character. He makes me smile. But anyway, thanks again for your review. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fire Emblem. Isn't that amazing? I am among the millions (probably billions) of people who do not own Fire Emblem... When you meet someone who DOES own Fire Emblem, take me to meet them. Cause that would be cool.

Chapter Four-  
>Objective: Survive 7 turnsprotect Natalie.  
>Enemies: 14 (including Dorcas), + 10 in reinforcements.<br>Units/characters: Natalie, Marisa, Lyn, Kent, Sain, Florina, Wil.  
>Unitscharacters obtained: Dorcas.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Four: In Occupation's Shadow<strong>_

I heard footsteps coming from a nearby room. I turned in the direction of the footfalls, alert and ready to run for my life when it turned out to be another axe monkey.

A soft and gentle voice called out to us. "Your pardon, milady..." Lyn was alert when she heard an unfamiliar voice, but when she responded, she tried to keep her voice even.

"Who's there?" Her hand rested uneasily on her sword.

From around the corner came a small, young-looking woman with a crippled leg. She hobbled toward us a little. Her long brown hair was tied back with a cute white bow. She wore the clothes of a commoner...

"I... Forgive my intrusion..." she began shyly, hesitantly. "My name's Natalie. I'm from a village not far from here..." Suddenly, a look of pain washed over her face and she grasped her leg. "Ah! Ow..." She winced and continued to hold onto it, as if that would relieve any pain.

"Are you alright?" questioned Lyn worriedly, stepping toward Natalie as if to help. But it was then that Lyn noticed how small, how bony, how disfigured Natalie's left leg was. "Hm? Your leg..."

"It's fine. Don't worry. It's from a childhood sickness... I can't travel far on it, but it doesn't trouble me much," she explained.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" Lyn inquired.

"Don't you know there are bandits running around all over the place out here? They'd take advantage of you in an instant," I added in my small, pathetic voice. Natalie looked somewhat sad, but tried to remain calm.

"I'm looking for my husband... I heard he was in this area. He said he was going to raise money to have my leg mended. He left the village and hasn't returned. He's a kindhearted man, but I think he might be involved in something dangerous. I got so worried..."

Regardless of her worry, Natalie was wrong to leave by herself. The least she could have done was travel out here with a friend... she was a prime target for any 'evildoers' that would see her.

"Here's a sketch of him," Natalie continued, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. "It's a poor likeness at best, but..."

We all gathered around to observe the picture. His head was a big circle and his eyes little dots (so it was obvious she wasn't an artist). His hair was drawn to look somewhat messy, and shaded to make it look dark, though the picture was black-and-white. He had a somewhat square jaw and muscular features. It was nothing like anyone we had yet to encounter.

"His name is Dorcas. Do you know of him?"

"I'm sorry. I don't believe I've seen or heard of him." Lyn looked sad that she couldn't help Natalie.

"I see... If you do meet him, please give him a message. Tell him that Natalie is looking for him."

"I will tell him. I promise." I agreed with Lyn; it was the least we could do for the poor crippled woman.

"Lady Lyndis!" shouted Kent suddenly. "Outside the fortress! Bandits!"

I growled under my breath. What lowlifes, following us and waiting to attack until we were exhausted and ready to sleep. It was even going to be dark soon. Did they not learn when we handed their butts to them earlier that day? Did they not understand that we would stop them every time? Stupidly persistent pack of apes.

"What did you say?" Lyn sounded angry.

"Persistent bunch, aren't they? What do you think?" Sain entered the conversation. "Shall we go out and face them?"

"No... Natalie cannot move well, and that would put her in danger. Let them come to us. We'll fight here, within these walls." Lyn looked to me. "Marisa, take over. The command is yours. All we have to do is hold out until they tire and leave."

If they proved to be as persistent in this fight as they had been all day, this would be a long battle... would we ever get any sleep? I sighed.

"Oh..." Natalie muttered worriedly, backing up a little.

"Rest easy, Natalie. No one will harm you!" Then Lyn spoke to everyone, "Listen, everyone! Fight with caution!" She looked around, and then spoke to me again. "Marisa! This fort has two entrances. I'll take the eastern door... Wait..." She peered out the eastern exit. "Marisa! That man over there... Doesn't he resemble the picture of Natalie's husband?"

Oh, the irony. Killing his own wife to save her. Hmph.

"Then yes, you can take the eastern entrance." I was surprised when my voice didn't automatically get louder. I spoke up a bit after that, "Lyn. There was something I noticed last time."

She blinked at me as if waiting for me to continue. "You didn't fight with the Mani Katti. You kept using your old sword."

"Oh," she said, trying to think. "Well, I... guess I couldn't quite bring myself to use it."

"You'll have to when that thing breaks. It looks like it has almost reached its limit," I said, staring at it.

She nodded, "I understand."

"Good." I paused briefly, trying to re-focus on the battle. I motioned to the eastern exit, "Try not to hurt him if you can help it. I'm leaving the situation up to you. I'll be back in a little while."

I walked to the front entrance and peered outside. My jaw nearly dropped when I saw how many there were... we were severely outnumbered. And it looked like more were heading this way, though they were distant.

"Okay. Florina, that sword I told you to buy today. Give it to Kent and then head northwest. That wall looks like it's falling apart... I'm sure they'll try to break through it." Florina was handing Kent the iron sword while I spoke, and then left to head north. "Wil, go with her. Shoot anyone you see on the other side of the wall.

"Boys..." I exhaled nervously. "This is going to be hard. You guys are going to have to stand at the front entrance and keep anyone from coming in. You both have swords, and it looks like most of them have axes. So this should work out okay... Just... be alert. Be careful."

They nodded, and then took their horses to the front exit. Their size was just perfect, blocking any spaces the bandits might try to sneak through. I knew they wouldn't play nice if they had the chance to cheat.

I decided to check on Lyn's situation. I noticed that Dorcas was standing beside Lyn, looking around. When Lyn explained that Dorcas agreed to join us and fight, I wasn't surprised but wasn't quite sure what to do with him. He had an axe to fight with... I didn't see any enemies with lances. How could I use him...

I saw a bandit approaching us from outside.

"Dorcas, if that's a hand axe, stand on the inside of the wall and throw it at the guy outside." Dorcas didn't question me. He moved north and tried to throw his hand axe through the holes in the wall. Unfortunately, he missed and the axe flew back to him.*1

I grimaced. "Lyn, handle it. I'll be back."

Checking on the men, I noticed that they were doing well. It looked like they had already slain a few bandits, though I walked up just in time to see Kent get hit with an axe and then Sain by a swordsman.

I looked out across the plains to see a man in the back shouting and giving orders. He appeared to be the leader here, and he didn't look happy.

I peeked around the corner to see Florina waiting for the wall to break and Wil firing arrows over the wall. The men were still battling hard with the bandits when I passed them again, moving back to where Lyn was.

She and Dorcas had just defeated another bandit. But looking out the doorway, I saw that there was a swordsman that had appeared and was headed this way. Since the boys had their hands full, I decided this would be a good job for Florina. She and Dorcas would just trade places.

"Florina!" I nearly screamed, raising my voice to a ridiculous volume. I could hear Florina flying toward me, and afterwards turned to Dorcas. "I need you to go to the other side of the fort and make sure nobody gets in over there."

My attention shifted to Lyn when I noticed her trying to hand me something. It was an axe... one in surprisingly good condition, with only a few blood stains.

"Where did you get this?"

"On that man. It looked like it was in good condition, so..."

"Thank you, Lyn. Stay here; I'll have orders for you shortly." I took the axe, which seemed very heavy to me (probably because the amount of muscle on my body was minimal).

I ran across the fort until I caught up with Dorcas. I gave him the iron axe that Lyn had found and asked him to use it before the hand axe. I knew hand axes were far less durable than many other axes and it needed to be taken care of. He simply nodded to me, waiting next to Wil.

When I asked Wil how things were going, he reported that there were two men remaining on the opposite side of the wall- one was nearly dead and the other was still whacking away at the wall, as I could see. I nodded and left him to his work, heading back to Lyn.

I glanced briefly to Kent and Sain, who seemed to be doing fairly well. Both had taken small injuries but had cleared out the front entrance of bandits, save two, one of which was severely injured. I peeked into the back room of the fort to Natalie; she was sitting on the floor and fingering the picture of her husband worriedly. I decided not to share the news that Dorcas had joined us with her yet; I didn't want her getting overexcited and trying to move... she would only hurt herself, or worse, march straight into the middle of a battle.

When I returned to Lyn's side, Florina had moved outside and was battling with the mercenary there. Lyn was observing closely, watching to make sure Florina fell into no serious danger. However, she gave me her attention when she heard me walk up.

"Hello again. ...Lyn." I was looking outside, to the south, where their leader was. "I need to know if you are up for a challenge."

"...You've never steered me wrong before. I'll do anything you think I can handle." It was touching how much she trusted me with her life. I definitely had to be sure of what I was doing now...

I took a deep breath. "You're going to go out of this fort and rush them. By yourself. You're going to go to their leader and slay him." She didn't look surprised or scared. She kept a straight face, nodding only once.

"I understand."

"...You... ...Okay. Be careful. If you need to, run away, and come back to me."

She smiled. "Thank you, but I'm sure I will be able to do it."

"...Afterwards, if you are successful, you can snake around to the front entrance and meet up with the men, or fight out front. Whatever you think is best."

"Sure, Marisa. ...I'll see you in a little while!" She left me with nothing more than that, running off toward the leader. She was met first with an archer, who shot and missed, only to be cut down by Lyn anyway. I crossed my arms and found myself waiting... waiting and watching. As if I should be concerned, as if there was any doubt in my heart whether or not she could do this...

I shook my head. I couldn't afford to stay and watch. The others needed direction. I glanced northward, to Florina. She was attempting to use a small patch of trees to her advantage while fighting another mercenary reinforcement.

I turned around and retreated to inside of the fort. I rushed back toward Kent and Sain to see how they were fairing. It looked like they had received a few more small injuries, which were beginning to take their toll, but the men held strong.

"Hold on, guys. As soon as Lyn's done outside, she'll come to help you..."

"We're fine," Kent called back, as if to assure me. I was not so sure whether he was speaking truly or was just trying to ease my fears, but I had to trust him. I glanced around the corner to Dorcas and Wil. Wil had just shot a final arrow over the wall, killing the last man standing outside. And the wall hadn't even been broken open...

"Good work, boys. Come here and help Kent and Sain!" I ordered, and then walked back to the boys. A new bandit had approached to attack Kent, and the two were battling. Just as Kent was counterattacking a second time, Wil arrived and killed the bandit. This allowed Kent to step back and take a breath.

"...It looks like another one is coming. Just keep fighting. They have to be running out of men by now..." I muttered. I wished at that moment I could see Florina, but she was on a different side of the building. I tried peering around the corner to look at Lyn, and I could just make her out in the distance... She looked hurt. Badly. But nonetheless, she was headed this way.

"Curses! They're not human!" came a voice from across the field. I turned to watch who was talking. "Listen up, rogues! Retreat! Pull back!"

We all breathed a sigh of relief as the bandits began to retreat. Sain cheered and patted Kent on the back, while Wil was laughing with relief. Dorcas looked relieved as well, though he didn't react much.

"The enemy's fled... Marisa! We've won!" shouted Lyn as she ran up to me. She wrapped her arms around me very suddenly, and I was startled once again by her embrace. She pulled back once she realized that she was covering my nice, unstained clothes with her blood. She stumbled back, and I hastily gave her one of the vulneraries I kept. It was passed around, and it seemed like everyone needed a drink. Florina was the last to heal up, since she had to travel to us, but once she was finished, so was the vulnerary. I made a face as I set the empty vial on the ground; we were running out of healing stuff pretty fast. They would probably have to start using their battle stuff soon... but I would avoid that for as long as I could.

"Excuse me," came a quiet voice. It almost reminded me of myself when I talked, except this voice was smooth and soothing, where as mine tended to be a little on the raspy side. But anyway, I turned to Dorcas, who had asked for my attention.

"Sorry we didn't really get to introductions. I'm Marisa," I informed, sticking my hand out for him to shake. I spoke at a normal volume still, since 'tactician mode' hadn't quite shut off yet. "I'm going to assume you know that your wife is here..."

"...Yes... can I see her?"

"Mm. Come with me." Lyn and I led Dorcas back to where Natalie was waiting. She had been sitting, still staring at her drawing of him, when we entered with Dorcas. When she saw him, her face lit up and she hurriedly attempted to stand up.

"Dorcas!" She sounded like a little kid who had found her lost puppy.

"I'm so sorry, Natalie," he told her as he stood by her, helping her to stand up. But Natalie didn't seem to care what had happened with him at the moment- she wrapped her arms around him, and he hastily returned the embrace.

Lyn smiled. "All's well that ends well. Right, Natalie?" Tears were beginning to escape from her eyes, but she smiled.

"Could we have a moment alone?" asked Dorcas in a small voice. Lyn nodded, and with that, she and I exited the room to rejoin the others. They were all standing around outside, chatting about the battle and complimenting each other.

"How did that go?" asked Wil as I exited. I was unaware that he was speaking to me for a moment, and paused before answering.

"You mean with Natalie and her husband? ...Alright, I think." My normal quiet voice had returned, but he didn't comment about it this time.

"That's good. I bet they were happy to see each other."

"...I'm sure." I felt like perhaps he was referring to something besides Dorcas and Natalie, but I didn't question it. "How is everyone doing?"

"They seem to be in good spirits since the bandits left and they healed up... How about you?"

I was surprised that anyone cared to ask about me. "I'm... fine."

"Okay, if you say so." I was glad he didn't question my answer. "Ha... It'll be good to get some sleep, huh? It's so dark already, and the absence of the sun is making my eyelids heavy. How about you?"

I was distracted when Dorcas and Natalie began to exit and look around.

"Yes, I'm tired too. Please excuse me." I left Wil abruptly and approached the couple. "Are you two finished?"

"Yes, but we'd like to speak to you," said Natalie.

"...You have my attention." They glanced to each other before Natalie spoke again.

"Well, we were talking, and... we feel like we owe you something."

"I don't want your money. I know you're having a hard enough time getting money for your leg... I won't accept anything like that." I shook my head.

"But we... have to do something," Natalie protested.

"...Well... we're travelling to Caelin. Lyn is going to see her grandfather. But the road... is kind of dangerous. If you're willing, Dorcas could come and help us fight. And once he's there, he could get an honest job. And I'm sure Lyn's grandfather could reward him for protecting her, or something..."

"...Does Lyn come from a rich family? I thought she was a plainsdweller."

"She is. ...Her grandfather is the current marquess of Caelin. They have never met. She is going to claim what is rightfully hers."

"Wow! ...Dorcas, I don't think there's a better cause to fight for than that!" Natalie seemed excited. "Marisa made some good points. I would be able to rest easy knowing you were with such good people..."

Both of us looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer.

He nodded, "Alright. If you will allow me, I will travel with you." I smiled.

"You should talk to Lyn to make sure she is okay with it, but I'm sure it will be fine." I looked behind me to Lyn, who was talking with Florina. "Lyn!" She turned toward me, and I motioned for her to come. She did so, walking to my side.

"Our village is close," Dorcas told us as Lyn reached us. "I'll take Natalie home and return tomorrow."

"Hm? Why can't we just say our farewells today?" asked Lyn.

"Well, I... I spoke with Marisa. I... I've been invited to join your group." Lyn looked to me as if asking for confirmation. I nodded to her, and she turned back to him.

"But we're going to Lycia..." Lyn seemed worried about their wellbeing.

"I have to go somewhere to earn money. If you think I'll be of use, I'd like to fight for you. You helped my wife... I owe you." Dorcas looked so sincere when he said it... I could tell he really was a good man. He must have been desperate, getting mixed up with an ugly bunch like those bandits...

Lyn still seemed worried. "Dorcas..."

"Please, Lyn. We are both in agreement on this," Natalie chimed in. "Watch over my husband." Lyn considered this for a moment, and then smiled.

"Alright. Thank you both."

"No... Thank you." Natalie leaned forward and hugged Lyn. Lyn readily accepted the gesture, hugging Natalie tightly. The two pulled back and said their farewells, Dorcas and Natalie taking their leave shortly after.

That seemed to be the cue for the others to return inside. Everyone, even Lyn, returned to the abandoned fort and began to settle down. I, however, remained outside; I wanted to look at the stars for awhile before heading off to bed. I sat down and leaned my head back, watching the stars twinkle.***2**

I had wanted to talk to Wil again, feeling bad that I had to cut our conversation short earlier. Aside from that, I had yet to have a real conversation with Florina, and I felt like she was still jumpy around me. I wanted to fix that. But I decided that I would have to do that tomorrow... my eyelids were beginning to feel like they weighed a thousand pounds. I doubted I would stay awake much longer.

"...Marisa. You are still out here." I glanced behind me, though I knew whose voice that was... Lyn's. She walked to my side, but didn't sit down just yet. "What are you doing, if I may ask?"

"Watching the stars..."

"...I see. Would I be interrupting if I sat with you? There was something I wanted to discuss."

"No... go ahead." Her tone and the expression on her face made me wonder if I had done something wrong. I felt like a child getting in trouble with a teacher at school. She stared up at the stars for awhile, as if trying to gather her thoughts. It only made me more anxious, a knot forming in my stomach. Was she mad at me? ...What had I done?

Was it sending her out by herself? She was pretty near death by the time the battle had ended... Did she lose faith in me after she got hurt so badly? Or was it someone else? Had I upset Wil and he didn't show it, but instead told Lyn about it?

"I... I don't really know how to start," she admitted. I stared at the ground; as soon as she looked over to me, I found that I couldn't meet her eyes. She didn't mind me not looking at her so much anymore, it seemed. "...There was just... something I noticed earlier."

Something she noticed. Had I done something rude and didn't realize it? "...What's that?"

"...I... when I hugged you, I didn't want to say anything. I didn't know how. ...I thought you looked really thin... but when I hugged you, I... I could feel all your ribs. Marisa... you're just skin and bones. ...I also overheard you talking to Wil... saying you're sick a lot."

I felt ashamed for not telling her... That was what I had been trying to hide, after all. I didn't like changing in front of her because I was afraid she would notice. Standing, just standing normally and looking at myself in a mirror, I was noticeably unhealthily thin. I liked to wear a dress and a cloak because the clothes helped to hide it... make me look normal. But apparently it helped less than I thought...

"...Is everything okay? What's the matter?"

"...It's just what I said to Wil. I've been sick all the time since I was really young. I'm apparently really susceptible to viruses and infections, because I get them all the time... and besides that, I get headaches and stomachaches easily..."

"...But that doesn't explain why you're so skinny." I closed my eyes.

"...Before... you found me... I hadn't eaten in awhile. I haven't eaten particularly well in a few years, so... I guess my body is just getting used to not having food..."

"...Which brings me to my next point. When we first met... you said you didn't remember anything." My heart dropped into my stomach. I had slipped up... she knew I had lied. "I knew it when you said the other day that you would tell me about what happened to you... that you remembered. I knew you remembered back when you first told me you didn't..."

"I really am sorry for lying. I just... I didn't want to tell you... I'm just... it's..."

"Marisa," she smiled, "I'm not mad."

"...Y...you're not...?"

She almost laughed, giggling lightly. "No. I understand... Not very many people would trust a complete stranger. I just was wondering if there was anything else you had lied about. ...You don't have to tell me everything. I'm just curious."

I was silent for awhile. I couldn't find the words I wanted.

"I was also wondering if that was why your voice is so quiet... Because you're sick, I mean."

"...That's a big part of it." There was another long silence after that.

"You don't want to talk about it right now, do you? ...That's fine. You promised you'll tell me everything before we separate, so... I'll just ask you about this stuff then."

"...Lyn... I... I'm sorry... I lied..."

"You don't have to worry. I owe you my life... I trust you completely. Don't feel so bad. I probably would have lied in your position, too. You didn't know about me or who I was. And it seems like you didn't get much socialization before you met me, so..." She shrugged.

"...Lyndis..."

"...Sorry for bothering you, Marisa. I'll go now..." As she was standing up, I reached over and wrapped my arms around her. She fell back to her butt, landing sort of hard and making an 'uhn' noise. She seemed to hesitate for a long while, but eventually hugged me back.

"...L...Lyn... thank... you..."

"...I... you're welcome." She seemed like she didn't understand why I was thanking her, but didn't question it aloud.

"...Lyn..."

* * *

><p>"It is a really beautiful creature."<p>

"Thank you..." Florina petted Huey, her pegasus. "I've been with him for a long time now."

"I've heard of people feeling a certain bond with their mounts. Is it like that for you and him?" I questioned. My voice was still quiet, I noticed, but I would work on that.

"Oh, yes! Definitely..."

"So, what's the chance I could get a pet pegasus?" Wil chimed in.

"U-um... They... They're not... f-for keeping as pets..."

Wil laughed, "I was just kidding, Florina."

"I wonder how many people have pet pegasi!" Sain wondered out loud.

Kent only shook his head in disapproval.

"I was watching you in the battle the other day, Florina. I was surprised at how much stronger you've become," Lyn said all of the sudden. Florina looked surprised, but smiled.

"Th-thank you, Lyn..."

With his hands behind his head, Sain leaned toward his partner. "Seems like our group's getting bigger every day, huh?" Kent seemed to be deciding whether or not he wanted to respond.

"That's very true. But it is also necessary if we're to face Lord Lundgren."

"Hey, guys. I was just wondering something," Wil began at once. Everyone seemed to look to him. "Who do you think is the most important member of our group?"

"Interesting question," Kent began, "But I believe the answer is obvious. It is clearly the Lady Lyndis. Without her, none of us would even be on this journey. It is imperative that we keep her safe and help her to reach her goal."

"True," Wil agreed, "But Lyn wouldn't be able to do this by herself, would she?"

"He has a point. Hm... In that case, it would have to be one of us," Sain said, meaning him or Kent. "We're the best fighters."

"Well, maybe not now that we have Dorcas! He is pretty strong," Wil argued.

"I... am just here to help," said Dorcas hesitantly.

"What about you? What do you think?" asked Wil to Dorcas. Dorcas seemed to think a moment, and then shrugged.

"I think most of us are about equal," he answered simply. I grinned to myself- good answer for avoiding any tension with the others.

"...I think Lyn is the strongest," Florina protested. Lyn seemed to refuse to take part in the conversation; I did secretly wonder, though, what her opinion was.

"Well, what do you think, Wil?" asked Sain.

"Me?" Wil, for some reason, did not expect to be asked, it seemed.

"Yeah, you're the one who started this conversation! Who did you think?"

"...Well... I thought maybe Marisa." Startled by his response, I looked toward him for an explanation. "Without her, we'd all be dead. She's a lot smarter than the rest of us. ...So I guess we should be asking her! Marisa, who do _you_ think is the most important member of the group?"

Everyone stared at me hard, waiting for a response. I felt nervous; I certainly didn't want to upset anyone... how could I say what I thought?

"...I don't think anyone is more important than anyone else." I paused, trying to gather my thoughts. "I need you all. Florina's the only one who can fly over walls. Wil's the only one who can shoot a bow. Dorcas is the only one who could lift an axe that big. Sain and Kent... you guys are just so awesome that I need two of you."

Kent seemed slightly amused, and Sain laughed out loud. I smiled, and then continued.

"Lyn... I mean, Lyndis. ...There's no one like you, that's for sure. I'm certainly in a better place because of you. And besides that, we need you. You're going to rule Caelin one day." I stopped myself there, feeling like I was ranting. "So anyway, I like you all. So don't go dying on me, you got that?"

"We won't die! Are we not following the Lady Lyndis? There is no way we can lose!" Sain was speaking like he was reading a poem again.

"Let us hope you're right," I said simply, looking away with a small smile.

"...That's code for something!" Wil announced. "Don't get on Marisa's bad side! If you do, she'll send you off to die!"

"What! No, I would never-!"

"She's insane! A mad woman! She's not fit to command us! Everyone run for the hills!"

"Wil! You would do well to-"

"Shush," Lyn interrupted. "Everybody look! We're almost to Lycia! We're finally here... the border between Bern and Lycia..."

We all paused to look. With the mountains behind us, we saw trees and grass ahead, the scene complete with a small lake, the water twinkling under the sun's light. The water was smooth, dancing gracefully beside the grass. Lycia... We were so close to home. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the light summer's breeze for just a moment... for just a moment, I could breathe easily.

* * *

><p>I hope that chapter was okay. I feel like maybe the quality of the chapters is getting worse as I go. I don't know. Well, I'm hoping things start picking up starting next chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed, please review! See you next time!<p>

*1= I have no idea how to explain why the hand axe acts like a boomerang. Therefore, I am just going to roll with it. I toyed with the idea of just saying people are carrying multiple hand axes, but... no. Too much work and it might be confusing later. Try and work with me on this one.  
>*2= Skipped some dialogue. Marisa was outside.<p> 


	7. Chapter Five: Beyond the Borders

Story: Lyn, Hard Mode.

Tactician Data-  
>Name: Marisa.<br>Birth Month: September. (Affinity: Fire.)  
>Gender: Female.<p>

Notes: Excuse my long absence. I should be pretty busy in the coming weeks but I will try to update as often as I can. Thank you for your patience. I'm going to try to get back into this story as best I can, but I've been writing a lot of other stuff recently, so excuse me if anything sounds weird. For example, I wrote the first part of this chapter before I quit for awhile, so the writing style might randomly change halfway through. I know there's still a lot of editing I need to do for the last couple chapters, so...

Also, another point. I am not sure if FanFiction updated while I was gone or something, but I figured out how to see followers, favorites, views, etc. You guys! I'm so thrilled! Thank you so much!

Respondation.

_ExposedWiresExposedVeins:_ Thanks for the corrections again. Yeah, I guess I didn't realize that I didn't exactly put Dorcas in that conversation... it's fixed now. In other news, I'm going to try posting on that forum and see what happens... thank you for recommending it to me. And with that, enjoy this chapter.

_SpeedDemon315:_ Thanks so much for your reviews! I was so pleased to get back on FanFiction and see my reviews go from 7/8 to 11. I was like, "Yay someone else is reading!" Haha, but anyway.  
>Though "f" was supposed to be short for a swear word, I do plan on making her shout random letters to vent her frustration... "F! Q! P! Aagh!" "Marisa, this isn't a spelling bee... and even if it was, you would be losing. Can I have my orders, please?"<br>Yeah, Marisa's sarcasm seems to be everybody's favorite thing about this book. I personally think she's quite funny. She keeps thing from getting too dull. And about the Kent/Marcus deal... I never, ever, ever use Marcus. He sucks. I only very recently started using cavaliers at all, and I did enjoy Kent. We will see what happens in this playthrough. I was trying to catch up to where I am in the book on my emulator, and Kent kept dying on CH4 because I wasn't being careful. I was like, "...*Twitch*... *Resets*"  
>As for all the stuff about Marisa's past, you will just have to wait and see ;) We aren't told everything about it until somewhere around chapter 35-40, but I reveal stuff as we go. Anyway, please enjoy the coming chapters!<p>

_Bartholomew Kamiro:_ I really appreciate your lengthy review, it did a lot to help me. I thank you for your praise and encouraging words. I think it's really good idea to change up the number of people I bring into battles... that would make things interesting! I will definitely try to do so in the future (when I get to choose in-game XD).  
>I think you also make a good point about people skipping over the game's dialogue. I have begun reading your fic and that was one thing I enjoyed about it (don't worry, I will get to actually reviewing it soon). I will try to change it up a bit but I feel some sort of strange need to use the game's script. As if I should. So I guess we'll see what happens.<br>I guess I didn't really realize the whole virus/bacteria deal, I'm bad about catching stuff like that. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll definitely have to go back and change that up.  
>About the whole firstthird person thing, I was really torn when I started this fic about which to use. The only problem with switching now is that I'd have to go back and do a whole bunch of editing and whatnot. I'm considering changing it when I finish Lyn's story, since I will probably do a ton of editing at that point anyway.  
>I thank you for your review and hope you continue to do so. I hope you enjoy the rest of the book.<p>

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fire Emblem. Isn't that amazing? I am among the millions (probably billions) of people who do not own Fire Emblem... When you meet someone who DOES own Fire Emblem, take me to meet them. Cause that would be cool.

Chapter Five-  
>Objective: Defeat enemy.<br>Enemies: 7.  
>Unitscharacters: Marisa, Lyn, Kent, Sain, Florina, Wil, Dorcas.  
>Unitscharacters obtained: Serra, Erk.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Five: Beyond the Borders<strong>_

"We've almost reached the Lycian border," Kent stated, looking out at the empty plains ahead. We all seemed excited that we were getting so close.

"Once we cross, we'll be safe from the bandits, right?" Lyn questioned excitedly.

"We should be," Wil answered, glancing back to her only briefly. "I doubt they'll be willing to pursue us across the border." They were stupid and persistent, but I had to agree with Wil on that one... I doubted they would continue to chase us into Lycia. It was a much more populated nation, with marquesses that would actually hunt them down.

"Lycia at last!" Sain shouted up to the sky, leaning back and throwing his arms out to his sides as if to hug the clouds. "It's been a long time. Tomorrow, we'll dine on a feast of Lycia's finest foods!" A huge grin crossed his face, "And the mistress of the inn at the crossing is said to be a beauty. Ah, yes... Food and love. No better way to restore a man's soul!" Lyn rolled her eyes playfully. Sain gave Kent a sideways glance, "This is going to be a fine evening, eh, Kent?"

"If your behavior is as deplorable as ever, we'd best stay elsewhere. We're not here for sightseeing!" Kent protested.

"Oh, come now! That's not fair!" whined Sain.

"Kent, the inn will be fine," Lyn cut in, probably tired of hearing them argue.

Kent bowed his head just slightly, defeated, "As you say, milady." Sain seemed overjoyed, turning to Lyn with a huge smile.

"Lyndis! You truly are an angel from on high!" he declared poetically.

"It's nothing. Forget it," Lyn insisted, walking on ahead of him.

"Ah!" Florina yawned, stretching, "We'll finally be able to get a good night's sleep." Not sleeping on the ground did sound quite nice, I had to admit. I was rather looking forward to staying in an inn... Less humidity. Blankets. A bed. My own space. Walls to change behind. Fresh food. Less noise- no wait, Sain would be in the building... Nevertheless, it sounded like a good time to me.

"...Hey, Marisa," said Wil, tapping my shoulder. I looked back at him to find him pointing into the distance. Peering behind us at the mountains, I could make out the outlines of more axe monkeys heading this way. I sighed anxiously; did they never give up?

"Oh, no..." Lyn seemed to notice them as well. "Those bandits are persistent, I'll give them that much." Everyone who wasn't looking turned their head just in time to see the rogues approaching us.

"Ah! Here they are! I found 'em!" one declared, motioning for more to come.

"What? Not again! They're still after us?" asked Wil in disbelief, taking a few steps backwards. I, as usual, was observing the scene while cowering behind everyone else.

"Heh heh heh..." cackled the lead bandit, "Don't think you're getting away so easily!"

"You leave alive, and everyone'll think the Ganelon Bandits have gone soft!" a different bandit chimed in. I scoffed; what did we care? Aside from, of course, the fact that they were trying to kill us.

"So? We care nothing for you or your reputations!" Lyn spat back defensively, standing with her feet apart and her fists clenched. "We must get to Lycia! Get in our way, and you'll pay!" She was more frustrated and angry than I had ever seen her. She meant business, I could tell. Well, we'd be making more monkey pie out of them at this rate...

"Cheeky little thing, aren't you?" hissed the lead bandit. Then, as he turned back to the others, "Let's get 'em, lads! And no holding back just 'cause there's women with 'em! Wipe 'em out!"

His disgusting accent and general disregard for the Elibian language were repulsing me. I couldn't stand the way bandits spoke around this place. I was so ready to be done with them.

The lead bandit moved to stand a good distance away from us. Hmph, coward. It wouldn't save him from death. The others began to move away a few steps, so I did the same. A few more bandits emerged from the northern and eastern mountains. I looked over the area in front of us... An archer. I would have to watch that. A couple of sword-users, a few axe monkeys... I scoffed again- this was going to be easy.

"Eeeeeeek! Eeeeeeek! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" I heard all of the sudden, off to my right. We all whipped our heads to look eastward. I could see through the thick trees a light, but only briefly. Lyn and I glanced at each other worriedly.

"That scream..." Lyn looked wildly through the trees for a moment, and then gasped quietly. "Look! Marisa, someone's over there!" Without waiting for me to respond, she rushed off through the trees. I turned back to the others.

"Everyone stay here for just a second." With that, I was off after Lyn. That was the first time I really noticed that running didn't wear me out so much. It made me smile just briefly before I remembered that I was doing something and began to focus again.

"Um, excuse me... Hello?" Lyn called as she reached the edge of the trees. We were currently stuck between the small forest and some tall hills.

"Hm?" I heard a female mutter. As I reached Lyn's side, I saw that there was not only a dead bandit lying nearby, and a lady, probably the one who had screamed, but also a young man. And judging by their clothes...

Magic-users! So cool!

"Why are you fighting these bandits?" Lyn questioned quickly. The boy was clearly injured- it wasn't too big but still enough to cause some bleeding.

They shot each other strange looks, and the boy turned toward us with an annoyed expression. "...It just happened."

"That's not true!" the girl cut in, "Those ruffians thought that we were with you!" She stomped her foot angrily, making me cringe back a little. Lyn just looked sorry. "You got us into a terrible situation!" I hardly suppressed a laugh; I guess maybe she wasn't used to being face-to-face with death like I was, but it wasn't like we weren't going to whip them into whipped cream. "Now, how are you going to get us out?" So demanding... and SO loud.

"Serra, if you'd not been so meddlesome, this all could have been avoided," the boy disagreed, pressing one hand to his wound. He turned to Lyn, "My apologies. Please trouble yourself with us no more." He, on the other hand, was polite, reserved... charming. I did have a thing for mages... I exhaled briefly. No, Marisa. No. Just focus.

"But... if you're going to have to fight anyway, shouldn't we team up?" Lyn offered. "It will end things faster, right?"

"That's true," said the woman thoughtfully. Then she exclaimed, "Yes! That's a good idea." She turned to the boy, "Erk! Go and help these ladies."

"But I..." He barely had time to protest.

"Very good," Lyn cut him off, probably without realizing it. "My name's Lyn. So tell me, will you join arms with us?" It couldn't be that easy...

"Yes, we'd be glad to," the lady agreed. "My name is Serra. This is my escort, Erk." Well, she seemed polite enough now... "Be a good boy, and go fight now, Erk." Except she treated him like a dog... or maybe a two-year-old.

As Erk sighed, Lyn and Serra proceeded to leave us and return to the rest of the group.

"Hi," I said suddenly. He must have been lost in his thoughts, for he seemed startled when I spoke. "I'm Marisa. I'm the tactician."

"Oh... a tactician... yes. We will follow your orders, of course, milady..." He was being polite, but he seemed lost in his own little world. He seemed reluctant to get involved in the fight, but he didn't really have a choice anymore.

"...Thank you. We should be getting back. Please come with me..."

His eyes darted behind me, through the trees. "Watch out!"***1** He shoved me aside, raising his arms to cast. After a spin, he stuck his arms out, fire materializing from his palms and shooting through the air and into the trees. I heard someone cry out in pain, watching a bandit archer fall to the ground lifelessly. Still in a bit of shock knowing that one of his arrows would have been in my back if not for Erk, I stared at the bandit's corpse for awhile. But eventually I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality. He must have been playing dead to avoid drawing attention to himself, as I had noticed the corpse as we had approached.

"Thank you," I finally breathed in response.

After returning to the others, Serra took the time to heal Erk's wound. He seemed to be doing better after that, so I turned to the others, who were expectantly awaiting my orders. The closest two enemies were a brigand, to the north of us, and a mercenary, who seemed to be closing in on Erk and Serra.

"Sain, cover them!" I shouted, pointing in that direction. Thankfully, he knew exactly what to do, rushing in that direction with his lance brandished. As he did, the brigand began to descend upon us. "Kent!"

Kent was ready with his sword. I trusted them to handle their battles and turned back to the others. "Florina, fly in that direction and see what's over there." I pointed over the nearby forested area, surrounded with tall, mountainous hills and completed with a small lake. She took off over the water.

I turned back to my cavaliers, and Kent was just finishing his battle without taking a single hit. I looked to Sain just in time to see him miss, but Wil approached before the mercenary could counterattack, shooting him down. I smiled to myself; it seemed as though everyone seemed to really be improving. I beckoned the others to follow me as I cautiously led the way around the trees.

Just as another bandit was approaching from the east, I spotted Florina returning. "Lyn, take him out," I ordered as I pointed at the new enemy. She wasted no time rushing him, dodging him and slicing twice to create a dead axeman.

"I only saw a swordsman and an axeman down there," Florina was reporting to me, making me pay attention to her. She was holding a small wound in her arm but seemed to be ignoring it pretty well. "The swordsman attacked me, and... well, I defeated him, but..."

"Serra," I called for the healer girl. She was at my side in an instant. "Would you heal Florina for me, please?"

She grinned slyly. "Of course! Watch my healing powers at work!" She raised her staff with one hand and held the opposite palm toward Florina. I watched with my jaw open as the wound disappeared in a flash of green light. Healing powers were truly so amazing...

I turned back to the others, who were staring at me expectantly, seeming to be waiting for their next orders. I took the time to survey our enemies; there was an archer crouched behind a faraway hill, and I knew that their leader was somewhere farther south, though he was currently out of sight because of all the trees and hills.

"Wil," I called, and he stepped up readily. "The archer over there... draw him out. Lyn, as soon as he comes this way, you have to be ready to back Wil up. Alright?"

They nodded in understanding, and Wil stepped out into the open, holding his bow at ready. The archer emerged and fired an arrow at Wil, just as I had suspected. Wil fired in return as soon as he had a clear shot, the arrows passing each other and both hitting their intended targets.

Lyn stepped out and rushed the archer, who had no time to even think about retreating before he was stricken dead. Serra was already healing Wil without me having to ask her, so I walked to Lyn's side. From where she was standing, we had a clear view of the lead bandit, who was standing in place and just waiting for us to kill him.

"Ready to take on another enemy?" I asked with a little grin.

She returned my grin with one of her own. "Always." I ordered the others to accompany us, though I did not plan for them to be fighting anymore. I glanced over the group as we went, carefully checking for injuries I might have missed and weren't announced. There didn't seem to be any, so I focused on where we were going.

"Go." My order was simple, but Lyn knew what to do by then. She approached the bandit, pausing just short of him among some trees.

The bandit growled. "You're going to learn why people fear the Ganelon Bandits!"

Lyn only scoffed in return as she made the first move. The battle did not take long. The others and I watched as their blades danced, Lyndis blocking or dodging his heavy axe as she sliced him repeatedly with her sword. The bandit leader let out a loud groan as the final blow landed, backing up and dropping his axe.

"Blaaaaah... Scum... You're all scum..." he jeered at us before falling over motionlessly. We all watched him carefully for just a moment before Lyn pulled back and sheathed her sword.

She turned to me with a soft smile. "Nicely done, Marisa. That should just about do it."

"What a surprise. You are very strong, Lyn," commented Serra almost immediately, walking to Lyn's other side. Erk followed her uncomfortably, as if unsure of what to do.

"Your staff is a wondrous thing," Lyn replied with her usual friendly smile. "Healing powers amaze me." Her and me both, it seemed. I was sure it was nothing to the magic-users, who trained constantly around such things, but to me, it was something special.

"Only those in the service of good can wield them," smiled Serra, a hint of pride in her voice. I knew she meant clerics, priests, bishops, and others who worked with the church. It was as if such powers came only from the legendary Elimine herself...

"You helped us tremendously," thanked Lyn with a little head-bow. She turned back to the others now, "Well, it's time for us to go."

"Take care," said Serra as Erk stepped a little closer to her side. He seemed anxious to leave. "Goodbye, Lyn."

"Fare you well. You too, Erk," said Lyn to the silent mage.

"Goodbye," Erk bowed his head low, making my stomach flutter. He was so well-mannered... I shook my head, trying to focus. I was sad to see them go, but I couldn't blame them for wanting to get away from us after all the trouble we had caused them.

Serra and Erk only walked a short distance before stopping, probably to check themselves over and prepare to depart. Lyn turned to me soon after.

"I found a bandit carrying this," she held out a brand new iron sword toward me. "I decided it was a good idea to take it."

"Good move," I complimented. "Why don't you hang onto it for now? You can use that instead of the Mani Katti after your other sword gets too beat up, if you'd like." She nodded to me. I sighed, sensing a status update was needed before we left, just in case the others had picked anything up or they had anything interesting to report. As soon as I was finished checking with Sain, he was off in their direction.

"Sain, don't harass them," I called, but he probably didn't hear me, as my voice had decided to change back to its quiet setting. He seemed to go immediately to flirting with her. I let that one go, turning back to the others and focusing on what I was doing. Worst case, Serra would whack him over the head with her staff, and maybe that would teach him a thing or two.

Just as I was finishing up, Sain came riding up to Lyn and I. "Lady Lyndis! Marisa! I have the greatest news. Lady Serra and her escort Erk have decided to accompany us! With your permission, of course." He watched Lyn expectantly.

Lyn smiled hugely, "Of course! We could use all the help we could get..."

Serra was back at Lyn's side in an instant. "Excellent! Thank you so much, Lyn! We look forward to traveling in your company."

I was practically bouncing with excitement; a healer and a mage added to our ranks... now things were getting serious. I wanted to shout to the sky, "Look out, world! We're coming through and nothing can stop us!" I felt like we were invincible. Our group was well-rounded and we had obliterated every enemy to challenge us this far.

I dropped my smile after awhile, though. What was I doing? I couldn't afford to get so attached to these people... especially if one of them were to fall, and it was all my fault. We weren't friends, I reminded myself. I would try to make an effort not to be so antisocial, but other than that, I wouldn't allow myself to get my hopes up that much.

"So what is our next destination?" Erk was asking as I began to pay attention to the group's conversation once more.

"Araphen," answered Kent pointedly.

My stomach dropped and I almost choked on nothing.

"Did you say Araphen?" I sputtered in disbelief.

Kent shot me a curious look as he nodded in response. I grimaced to myself; I had been purposely avoiding that area for years. I supposed it really was right on the way to Caelin, but all the same, I wished I didn't have to go back...

"Marisa?" Lyn cut in, shooting me a concerned look. "Is something wrong?"

I mentally cursed her for asking me right there in front of everyone, because now everyone was staring at me. I pulled the hood of my cloak over my face to hide my expression as I turned away dismally.

"Nothing," I hissed. "Let's go." I was off without waiting for anyone else.

* * *

><p>I feel like this chapter was a little pathetic, but I'm trying my best to get back into the swing of things. I hope to improve by next time. (I am already positive that the next chapter will be a LOT longer at the very least.) Any constructive criticism is both welcome and appreciated.<br>I didn't really realize it until just now, but something pretty big happens next chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and will review. I hope you enjoyed. See you next time.

*1= The NPC Erk killed the enemy, and he just sat on the map with 0/20 hp... So I decided to try and put it in the story somehow.


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